This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Millcreek • Salt Lake County's Congregation Kol Ami celebrated a special end to the Sabbath on Saturday, coming together in faith and friendship to install Ilana Schwartzman as senior rabbi.
Schwartzman, 32, has been officiating at Kol Ami since July, and while rabbinic law does not require formal installation, it offers a chance to welcome, celebrate and recognize that the community has found its rabbi, said Karen McArthur, congregation president.
Schwartzman is only the third rabbi to be installed in more than 40 years, McArthur said, and "we hope we will not have another installation for a very long time."
Schwartzman hopes so, too.
"I'm really here to be a part of their lives and to have them be a part of mine," she said.
Schwartzman sees her challenge, and calling, as helping form relationships between congregants, and the community at large. The congregation is a diverse one, 375 families from both Conservative and Reform branches of the faith. Schwartzman sees that diversity as a way to enhance the religious experience.
"The myriad of voices only enriches the place," she said.
One special voice could be heard Saturday: that of Schwartzman's father, rabbi Joel Schwartzman, who installed her in the L'Dor V'Dor, or generation to generation, ceremony. The ceremony is a rare one in the Reform branch of Judaism, because most rabbis do not have children who choose to follow in their footsteps. Ilana Schwartzman is a third-generation rabbi.
"It's almost indescribable," her father said.
Schwartzman may not have the traditional look of a rabbi, but Kol Ami is eager to have her, said member Leslie Dorius-Jones.
"Each congregation needs a spiritual leader," Dorius-Jones said, "and the tone of that congregation is set by that rabbi."
Schwartzman was chosen by the congregation from 36 applicants, and previously served as assistant rabbi at Temple Beth Zion in Buffalo, N.Y. Fluent in Hebrew, and unmarried, Schwartzman knows she still has much to learn, but also believes she has much to share with her congregation.
"I feel that I have you rooting for me," she said from the pulpit, "and I hope that you know I'm rooting for you."