62 | NOVEMBER 16 • 2023 

OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY

R

abbi Dannel I. 
Schwartz, founder of 
Temple Shir Shalom, 
was an imaginative leader, a 
talented orator and a devoted 
family man who had an 
innate gift for connecting 
with people and bringing 
them together. On Oct. 29, 
2023, Rabbi Schwartz was 
tragically killed in a car 
accident while traveling with 
his wife and father-in-law 
from their Maine home to 
their residence in Palm City, 
Florida. He was 77. 
With a big dream and a 
small congregation, Rabbi 
Schwartz established Temple 
Shir Shalom in 1988. During 
the first three months, 
membership grew from 30 
families to 487. Today, the 
Reform synagogue is home to 
more than 900 families and 
individual members. 
Dannel Schwartz grew up 
in Manhattan and attended 
the renowned High School 
for Performing Arts with the 
hope of becoming an actor. 
When his best friend died by 
suicide at age 19, he began to 
move away from a theatrical 
career toward a profession 
that involved helping others.
After high school, he 
received a bachelor’s of 
arts degree from Hofstra 
University in New York. He 
attended Hebrew Union 
College-Jewish Institute of 
Religion, where he received 
his doctoral degree in 
1997. While a student, his 
outstanding writing and 
editing skills led to a job 
writing copy for NBC Nightly 
News anchor Chet Huntley. 
He worked as an assistant 

rabbi at Temple Israel in New 
Rochelle, New York, and later 
moved to Metro Detroit, 
where he served as senior 
rabbi at Temple Beth El in 
Bloomfield Township.

A NEW SPIRITUAL HOME 
After parting ways with 
that synagogue, he was 
approached by a group of 
former congregants who 
asked him to create a new 
shul, a place where he could 
actualize his innovative 
ideas and unique vision. 
He agreed, and Temple Shir 
Shalom began operations in 
a converted office building 
on Maple Road in West 
Bloomfield, renting space at 
the nearby high school for 
the High Holidays. Five years 
later, he oversaw the design 
and construction of the 
current building on Walnut 
Lake Road, which recently 
underwent a $5 million 
renovation.
His son, Ari, recalls how 
his father loved the weekly 
“Tish,” a Shabbat tradition 
where Rabbi Schwartz and 
his colleagues answered 
congregants’ questions about 
a variety of subjects. 
“It was the place where he 
told stories, from the Torah, 
from literature on Jewish 
mysticism and from his own 
family,” said Ari, speaking at 
the Nov. 5 memorial service 
at Shir Shalom.
Ari remembers helping his 
father categorize and file his 
copious collection of stories 
and sayings, admiring his 
ability to find exactly the right 
one for the occasion at hand, 
weddings, sermons, b’nai 

mitzvot, funerals and later, 
the Tish.
“He was a fascinating, 
complicated, interesting and 
talented colleague; no one 
was more determined than 
Dannel,” said Rabbi Harold 
Loss of Temple Israel in West 
Bloomfield.
He was a gifted speaker, a 
storytelling virtuoso whose 
sermons were inspirational, 
informative and entertaining. 
“He was a master of 
alliteration who could craft 
beautiful sentences that 
rolled off his tongue,” said 
Shir Shalom’s Rabbi Mike 
Moskowitz, who was hired by 
Rabbi Schwartz in 1995. 
While his oratorial skills 
were legendary, he also knew 
how to listen, which enabled 
him to make meaningful 
connections with congregants 
and numerous young people 
who needed guidance and a 
sympathetic ear. He inspired 
countless people to become 
rabbis or recommit to their 
Judaism.
Rabbi Robert Nosanchuk of 
Cleveland, a former Detroiter 

whose family still belongs to 
Shir Shalom, remembers the 
valuable support he received 
from Rabbi Schwartz as a 
teenager trying to find his 
way. 
“When he saw a person 
in pain or distress, he knew 
what to say and what they 
needed to hear,” said Rabbi 
Nosanchuk. “He was nonstop; 
his passion, his love were 
contagious, his faith in people 
to do amazing things.”
He was a maverick who 
believed in forging new 
paths and cutting across 
institutional lines, always 
encouraging others to move 
past their comfort zones in 
order to grow.
Rabbi Schwartz was 
devoted to his wife, Suzi, 
who balanced his fanciful 
side with her practicality and 
knack for detail. Working 
behind the scenes, she helped 
turn seemingly unrealistic 
dreams into reality. He took 
pride in his sons, Ari and 
Peter, and delighted in their 
career successes and growing 
families. Becoming Saba 
(grandfather) to their children 
was among his greatest joys.
He loved gadgets and was 
the first to have the latest 
cutting-edge technology. 
He was a passionate tennis 
player, an excellent cook, and 
a gracious host to friends and 
family when they visited him 
in Maine and Florida.
He was a voracious reader 
with a vast store of knowledge 
and an unsatiable thirst to 
learn more. 
“He had no qualms about 
approaching gifted people, 
known and undiscovered 

RONELLE GRIER CONTRIBUTING WRITER
A Visionary Leader

Rabbi Dannel Schwartz

