“I seek a blend of traditional and modern Jewish heritage along with universal spirituality. I welcome all people. My goal is to help you obtain a deeper spiritual connection and bond with God.”
Rabbi and Cantor for the Unaffiliated
In 1999, Schwartz
provided one of the first, inter-faith, Yom Kippur services in Los
Angeles. Schwartz continues to provide
interfaith services to her community during High Holy days. Her
responsibilities included Shabbat Morning Services, Life Cycle, spiritual
advisement, conversions to Judaism, traditional and interfaith weddings.
Rabbi Schwartz specializes in creating
a unique and uplifting services. She supports Interfaith individuals, couples
and families and has been recognized for her work in the community for bringing
together people from diverse cultures, religions, and genders.
Education
Schwartz’s
first teacher was her father, Leon Maurice Schwartz, who taught her to sing the
Sabbath prayer and encouraged her relationship with God. Although Schwartz longed to sing as a child
and felt a deep connection to God, her mother, Rose Schwartz, discouraged her
from both singing and spirituality. It
wasn’t until decades later as an adult that Schwartz formally studied under
Cantor Mendelsohn, who became her mentor and guiding force in her development
as a cantor.
Professional Accomplishments
In 2004, The Vatican invited
Schwartz to sing for Pope John Paul. She sang at the
Hollywood Bowl for the 88th Annual Ecumenical Easter Sunrise Service on April
12, 2009. Schwartz founded three non-denominational spiritual reading rooms
under the non-profit, “Beth Shirah,” (Hebrew for: “House of Song”). Her
storefront spiritual reading rooms were supported by contributions from
Steven Spielberg and David Geffen. She later opened a music/meditation
room in 2008 at Dr. Perry’s International Sport Science Institute in Los
Angeles and another in 2013 at the Lark Gallery in West Hollywood.
In 2009,
Schwartz released her first book of memoirs in a poetic style: Tears of Stone And my deal with God – A true
story. Originally written as a
letter to her children, the memories emerged as a coming-of-age story of a
spiritual and creative woman, dealt a life of adversity and miracles, and
centered around a complex mother/daughter relationship.
Ensuring
that history never forgets its past, Schwartz was an associate producer of NO
TIME TO WEEP, a musical adaptation of the life of Holocaust survivor, Lucy Deutsch.
Schwartz has presided over
many cycles of life events and delivered countless invocations and speaking
engagements at such places at the Buddhist Hsi Lai Temple, Baha'i Faith
Centers, the Braille Institute, and so forth.
Style
Schwartz’s
Cantorial style is heavily influenced by European opera as well as traditional
Hebrew liturgy and Folk compositions. Schwartz is also known for her interpretations of
various works from Puccini to musicians of modern Pop.
Philanthropy
In 1989,
Schwartz was elected to the Board of the United Nations Association’s Los
Angeles Pacific Chapter as an Ambassador for Peace. Concurrently, she founded the California non-profit,
Beth Shirah, (House of Song).
Along with
her support for peace and assistance in restocking depleted food banks, Schwartz supports women, having donated her time
to the Woman’s Club of Hollywood from 2003 – 2013. Often in philanthropic endeavors with female
friends and colleagues, Schwartz gives the invocations to help them with their
endeavors, such as Carmelita Pittman, founder of The Rose Breast Cancer Society’s
Annual Rose Variety Art Show, Ruth Klein’s 4G Branding workshop, Lark Larisa
Pilinsky’s International Women’s Day event, and so on.
In 2011,
the Los Angeles based food bank, SOVA, designated Schwartz as an Ambassador for
Food. Schwartz has also partnered with
L.A. Food Bank to help replenish depleted, local food banks. Together with her singing partner, Ivor
Pyres, (stage name: Theo Chakra), Schwartz avails herself to charity events. Their Voices of Hope concerts help to raise
efforts to supply local food banks with cans of food.
Reaching
out to her local community to provide inner peace and serenity during changing
economic times, Schwartz provided a Sunday arts and serenity retreat at The
Grove/Farmer’s Market from 2010 – 2013.
In
recognition of her efforts to dispel religious and cultural discrimination to
help achieve unification and peace, the MENSCH International Foundation (MIF)
asked Schwartz to be a non advisory Board
member. On the heels of recognition from
founder, Steve Geiger of MIF, Schwartz’s humanitarian outreach was also given
kudos by Sir Michael Douglas Carlin of the Knights of Malta order which knighted Schwartz into the order as a Knight of Malta.
Shwartz’s
outreach includes recognizing and assisting the homeless and the ill. Over the years, she has worked with the
elderly at Dan Mar nursing home. She
also assists Angelinos through her work
as a volunteer, Para-Chaplain at Cedars Sinai Hospital. In
her spare time, Schwartz devotes herself to her two children and to her grandchildren.
