From: David C <critical@hotmail.com>
To: olivia@chaicenter.org
Sent: Wednesday, October 1, 2008 8:31:56 AM
Subject: Shana Tova.

Olivia,
 
Shana Tova!  I'm not sure if you remember us or not, but my name is David Cregg and my wife Susie and I have been to many Chai Center services and activities including some lovely dinners at your home.  Susie and I just moved back to the East Coast and here in the Boston area we were desperate to find a place to attend services at the last minute.  To our great surprise, we found your son, Rabbi Mayshe running the Chai Center in Brookline!  We went to services and Rabbi Mayshe is the spitting image of Schwartzie!  In voice, tone, humor, and even in movement he is so the younger version of his father.  It made us feel close to him even before we were able to introduce ourselves.  We spoke with Mayshe and heard that you and Schwartzie will be in town next week and we really look forward to seeing you.
 
I just wanted to say thank you for sending your sons into the world.  Schwartzie loves b'shert stories and this is certainly one for us.  Anyway, we can't wait to see you.

Sincerely,
    David Cregg.
 

Hey Mendel

From: Rob Spiwak
Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2007 1:19 PM
To: mendel@chaicenter.org; schwartzie@chaicenter.org
Subject: High Holy Days dilemma


Good afternoon, Rabbis Schwartzie and Mendel.  I attended services last
night at the Writer's Guild (my third year) and once again truly enjoyed
them (you may have noticed me - I was sitting on the aisle wearing a purple
shirt with suspenders).  I regret that I am unable to attend today's
services but I'm watching and listening to the blowing of the shofar on the
internet so I hope that counts a little!  Next year I hope to attend daytime
services, and I will surely see you next Friday evening.

That said, I have a bit of a dilemma.  Last week our company - DreamWorks
Animation - had a poker tournament in which I placed 4th.  The final eight
people play the head of the studio (a well known Jew- Jeffrey Katzenberg)
during lunch next Thursday, the 20th.  We are not betting with real money,
though a non-monetary prize will likely be involved.  It is for team
building and fun and games, but I have been a bit uneasy about participating
during the High Holy Days as it would be considered gambling.  On the other
hand, I don't want to offend or call out Jeffrey - as a Jew - by bowing out
while he plays.

I would love to hear your thoughts as I am trying to stay on my best
behavior during these ten days.  I appreciate and will respect any response
you give.

Finally, I wish I could be joining you all right now to listen to the
shofar, and sending this email during the hours of its blowing provides me
with a hint of the connection I felt last night.

L'shanah tovah!

Rob

From: Larry Simons

Sent: Friday, September 14, 2007 12:15 PM

To: schwartzie@chaicenter.org

Subject: Gratitude

Dear Schwartzie, Olivia, and Mendel,

I've been with you for many years, either from the year that we had to leave the Beverly Hills Hotel under orders from the fire marshal, or the year before that. I can't quite remember. Each year, at High Holy Day services and several times a year at Shabbat dinner, I learn a little more about who I am as a Jew, and what it means to be one. But until I heard you say something so simple and yet so profound, I was not fully sure of what this meant to me. Then several years ago, at either RH or YK services, at one of the airport hotels on Century Blvd., I heard you, Schwartzie say, that it is not an all or none commitment to consider doing more as a Jew.

Since then, I frequently think about such things as how and what I can do to be more committed to my religion and my heritage. When I met and married my Tracy, and realized that she had come from such a committed Jewish family, I had an even easier time to reconsider all these things. Both you (all of you), and she have opened doors for me.

I closed my eyes and heard in my head "I will do something this year to be a better Jew."

I don't yet know what that is, or what I will do, but know that when I discoverer, it will definitely involve you and your beautiful family to help me achieve this. Bashert ?

With love, and deepest respect and gratitude, for all of you being in my life.

Larry Simons

Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 10:27 AM

Hi,

Hi Schwartzie,

From: Bruce

Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2005 1:58 PM
To: schwartzy@chaicenter.org
Subject: hooking up with Kerry

Dear Schwartzy,

Hope your travels were reasonable and that you are enjoying yourself in Israel. As we talked, my son, Kerry, is studying at Aish in Jerusalem. I know that he would love to meet up with you while you two are in nearby territory.

Honey and I really enjoyed spending Sabbos with you 2 weeks ago. I don't know if you were aware of it, but this was the latest we had ever stayed, basically "closed the place." Although Honey and I are seclular, it's important for you to know that both of us are developing a much stronger contact and understanding of how we interact with our faith and culture through you and Olivia. Although I have yet to follow up on our conversation some months ago on spirituality, I have the Twirsky books and reading slowing, thinking about things, and digesting. Honey seems to have developed a closer relationship with Olivia, and I see how her eyes light up whenever she talks about spending time with her.

I am also hoping that at your Dec. 26 "Not a Christmas Party" I run into one of the men I met at your Shabbat dinner.

Hope you hold another one soon.

Teresa Doe

Dear Mendel,

It was such a pleasure to meet you and your family.  I have never enjoyed a public seder so much in my entire life.  Your father is a true genius in his comedic deliverance of the Hip Hop Hagaddah.  The food was fabulous, esp. in light of preparing for 100 people last night.

Please put me on the  mailing list for future Shabbat dinners and celebrations !

L'hitraot (the woman whose 1st language is Hebrew !)

Helen S
(girlfriend of Aaron B)

By Beril S

Exactly 5 years ago I was sitting in a traif restaurant with an ocean view in Venice Beach, CA with a bunch of friends. After the meal we took a walk along the boardwalk, and I heard what sounded like rock music with Hebrew lyrics. I was intrigued, but being the cynic I am, I figured it might be ³Jews for J...² or something. I approached this group of interesting looking people & there was a Rabbi with a long beard offering ³Jewish Astrology² readings and a table set up to sell baseball hats with the letter Chai on the front.

As I started to shmooz with them I learned they were from two different organizations (and I use the term loosely), The Chai Center represented by Rabbi Shlomo Schwartz, better known as Schwartzie and The Happy Minyan represented by members of The Moshav Band and friends. I never heard of either one but I accepted information (and a small nudge to attend) for the upcoming High Holydays from both groups.

My fiance, Dena & were both unaffiliated with any synagogue and decided to go to Schwartzie¹s service partially because much of it was to be in English. When we arrived and saw this huge mechitzah, my initial reaction was ³Oh no!². We decided we may as well stay since we were already there, and besides, where else should a Jew be on Rosh Hashanah? Also, we wanted a Rabbi to marry us and didn¹t really know any.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised & had most of my preconceived ideas about what to expect from an orthodox Rabbi (& service) blown away. We started to hang out with the Holy Schwartz family, learning, feeling so accepted and getting to experience the specialness & Holiness of a ³real² Shabbos including the blessings, hand washing, a little Torah, kabbalah, and Olivia¹s soul lifting Hasidic stories (we still get teary eyed). Never feeling judged or pressured to do more, only motivated & inspired. Of all the great recommendations we received from them, one was to go check out The Happy Minyan. We did & we loved the music, joy & positive energy.

The Shul that we began to daven at in Santa Monica masqueraded as a little Judaica Store during the week. That is where I bought my first recordings of Reb Shlomo¹s music & stories. I would be driving around Los Angeles with tears streaming down my face as I listened to ³The Holy Miser² or ³Joe The Bishop² or some other story that seemed to cleanse all the years of ³shmutz² & penetrate my soul.

Dena & I kept learning & taking on more mitzvot as we prepared for our wedding that ³accidentally² fell on chai Elul and resulted in the highest sweetest holy chuppa that surpassed our hopes & expectations.

Just prior to our wedding, Schwartzie asked me my Hebrew name & I was forced to admit that I just wasn¹t sure. My only memory about this was as a child in Sunday school where the teacher I had decided on her own that my name would be Baruch, and that's what I went by if anyone asked. Now with the wedding approaching, I was a little pressured to make sure I had the right name on the kettuba so my ³wife wouldn¹t be married to the wrong guy.² After bugging my poor parents about it, (who hadn¹t thought about it in a few decades) my father came up with my bris certificate that read Beril Shalom. I never felt comfortable with the names Bruce or Baruch but finding out I¹m Beril Shalom felt like coming home.

Baruch HaShem, 15 months later Dena was pregnant. One of the amazing teachings we learned was that when a child is born, he or she already has a name and the parents are granted a certain level of prophecy to know what it is. In spite of this we spent many hours considering our choices. As our due date was approaching we thought we had it narrowed down to just a few names. We decided to only give our baby a Hebrew name since in Loshan HaKodesh it speaks to a person¹s essence instead of a mere label. Our due date came & went so we just kept working with our doula and practicing all the natural childbirth techniques until labor started. Our baby didn¹t seem to be in any hurry & did everything possible to delay his birth until chai Elul, our two year wedding anniversary when he was born in the operating room to a Reb Shlomo niggun played & recorded by Shlomo Katz!

None of the names we had previously picked seem like a good match anymore & my holy wife announced our son is a Yonah! Huh? what? he is? I get no say in this? OK, well I guess this is how prophecy works. Who am I to question this? But, I do have some input into the rest of his name... right? So, it¹s like this. The Judaism I grew up with was flat, dull & next to meaningless. As I started to learn about my religion from a Chasidic approach it spoke to me. I connected. I found what I¹d been wanting since I was a small child with questions about g-d & prayer, what I¹d been seeking in high school & college in a much more interesting & colorful way. Chasidis spoke to my soul & how to elevate it. As I started to learn, I felt so cheated & robbed that I had never been taught THIS Judaism before... So let¹s see, Chasidis plus Chai Elul... seems like Israel Bal Shem Tov is a good match so that's how we ³thought² we came up with our son¹s name of Yonah Yisroel.

But wait, more was to be revealed. My Israeli cousin Schora calls to wish us Mazel Tov and when told what we named our son she gets very quiet & then asks me, ³You know what Yonah means in Hebrew right? A dove. And, you know the dove is the symbol for peace right? So, Yonah Yisroel... and, when have we needed peace in Israel more than right now?² Psssssss!

And as if that wasn¹t enough, after our sweet, holy friend & teacher, Shlomo Katz hears our son¹s name he says ³Yonah Yisroel² hmmmm, do you realize his initials are yud-yud, one of Hashem¹s Holy Names? Pssssssss again!

Now, who would have thought that what started off as relatively mundane day in my life five years ago on a beach in Venice would ever have begun a series of events (and I¹ve really only touched on a few of the many) that has so throughly transformed our lives. Such as moving into ³the hood² and becoming members of he Happy Minyan, where my Son (and his parents) feels so excited to be in this vibrant environment of love & celebration of Yiddishkeit. Where we are so fortunate to hear the sweetest Torahs & experience the highest davening. We feel so blessed to have been welcomed & embraced by the holy chevra who have added so much joy to our lives as well as our Shabbos & Yom Tov experiences.

So, what does all this have to do with the High Holydays? Reb Shlomo teaches us that Rosh Hashana is the beginning of all beginnings. Our new beginning started on Rosh Hashana five years ago. And since that time we¹ve experienced so many blessings, miracles, connections, synchronicities, etc. that was all a result of our being willing to open our hearts.

There is a Bal Shem Tov story where the Holy Besht literally eats a poor farmer & his family out of ³house & home² and after the Bal Shem Tov & his students leave, the farmer realizes he has mamash nothing left, he walks out into the woods & with a broken heart & cries out to HaShem. A year goes by & the farmer & his family travel to see the Holy Bal Shem Tov and when the students recognize him & see his new beautiful horses, carriage & clothes they ask the Bal Shem Tov to explain what happened. The Bal Shem Tov tells them a year ago when they visited the farm he could see there were so many blessings just waiting to pour down on this simple farmer but he needed to ask for them, he needed to do his part.

So here we are coming into the new year and at this time we have an opportunity to change, grow & heal. We can learn from our past & not need to repeat our mistakes. We can use this time to fix what's broken if we are willing to do the work, to create vessels of ourselves and of our lives & to be in partnership with Hashem. The blessings are there, the miracles are waiting. Hashem loves us so much & wants to pour them down upon us. So I bless you & bless me back, that we recognize that the time is right for new beginnings... that the King is in the field and all the gates are open.

Leshana Tova Tekatev v'etachetem -
May you be inscribed for a sweet and good year!
Beril S

Rabbi Schwartz,

Thank you for the most beautiful Yom Kippur services. My husband (Steve), brother (Mitch) and I attended after not knowing where else to go! We enjoyed ourselves immensely and hope to join in for a Shabbat dinner very soon. Please let us know how to RSVP and if we can bring some kosher packaged food.

Its not always easy to know where to turn in the Jewish community and are thankful for your small ad in the LA Times!

My father is the Rabbi at the Jewish Home For the Aging in Reseda, CA. For the past 12 years, we have davened there with the residents. (Average age is 90 with some 13 centurions!) Its a lovely service, but since celebrating our first wedding anniversary August 17, 2004, my husband and I needed to experience the holidays / Yom Kippur with our peers and contemporaries. My single brother needed a service with some hope and people to meet. Your service provided all of that and inspiration as well.

Thank you! Todah Rabah!

Please add us to your mailing list!

Stephen and Melissa L.

All our activities are for Conservative, Reform, non-affiliates, & any Jew that moves! They require no prior background for your total enjoyment. Please feel free to invite yourself to a Shabbat dinner or call us for no reason (310) 391-7995  24/7

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