Rabbi Ilana Schwartzman
Rabbi Ilana is thrilled to have joined the BHSS community. She spent the last 8 years serving Congregation Kol Ami in Salt Lake City, Utah. Prior to that, she was the Assistant Rabbi of Temple Beth Zion in Buffalo, New York. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and went on to study Hebrew at Ben Gurion University in Beer Sheva, Israel. She was ordained in 2007 from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Rabbi Ilana is a third-generation rabbi. Her grandfather Rabbi Sylvan Schwartzman (z”l) was at the forefront of Reform Jewish education and her father Rabbi Joel Schwartzman has served as an Air Force chaplain and a congregational rabbi.
Rabbi Ilana has lived in places far and wide, including Germany, Greece, Israel and many states within the U.S. She, her husband Art, and daughter are happy to be setting down roots in the BHSS community.
Rabbi Ilana views the contemporary synagogue as a home for prayer, spirituality, social action, study, leadership and engagement and is devoted to these pursuits in her rabbinate. In addition to a love for Judaism and Jewish texts, she has a great love for people and their stories. Her joy lies in the interplay between intellectual Judaism and personal relationships. She also believes that music is a powerful vehicle through which we can connect to each other and God.
To reach Rabbi Schwartzman, email the main office at [email protected]
View Rabbi Ilana’s High Holiday Sermons for 5782 by clicking on the titles: Erev Rosh Hashanah Rosh Hashanah Morning Kol Nidre – Erev Yom Kippur Yom Kippur Morning
Student Cantor Molly May
Student Cantor Molly May is excited to join Beth Haverim Shir Shalom again for Yamim Nora’im (The High Holidays) 5784.
Molly is a cantorial student at the Academy for Jewish Religion, and will be ordained in April of 2025. She teaches music, Hebrew, and b’mitzvah preparation at Judea Reform Congregation in Durham, NC, and prepares b’mitzvah students at two other congregations in Raleigh and Durham. She teaches stringed instrument lessons and section coachings in the area.
Molly previously served as the Cantorial Soloist and Choir Director at Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She also taught Hebrew and music at Pittsburgh’s Joint Jewish Education Program, a pluralistic religious school. She served as principal double bassist for the Edgewood Symphony Orchestra.
As her studies at the Academy of Jewish Religion come to an end in April, Molly is likely to enter into a chaplaincy residency at one of the area’s hospitals. She completed one unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at Duke University Hospital in the Spring of 2023 and wishes to continue this work.
Molly holds a B. Mus. in Music Education from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance; she holds an M. Mus. in Music Education from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. She lives in happiness and chaos with her husband and her three children, aged 17, 15, and 13.