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