Rabbi Lilli Shvartsmann…You Should Know

By Ellen Braunstein

At her bat mitzvah in Los Angeles, Lilli Shvartsmann recalled not being allowed to read from the Torah because her family observed Orthodox Judaism.

She became egalitarian during her public high school years when she joined United Synagogue Youth, a Conservative movement youth organization. A rabbi came in one Wednesday night and asked the participants, male and female: “Who wants to read Torah this weekend?”

“My parents didn’t really want me as a woman to be reading Torah,” she said. “I went on a big rebellion and said yes.”

Shvartsmann, now 29, would go on to become a rabbi, ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. After a year-long internship, she was recently appointed assistant rabbi at Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El in Wynnewood.

“From the first moment I stepped into this synagogue, it felt like home,” said Shvartsmann, who lives in Narberth, a mile from the synagogue. She is married to Miles Greenspoon, a marketing professional. “I interviewed with different synagogues then, ultimately, we decided that we would stay together.”

She has come a long way from her Jewish experience as a teen, learning how to read Torah on YouTube. “One night I went downstairs to dinner and told my family: ‘I’m reading from the Torah this Shabbat. Wanna come?’

“They came to Shomrei Torah Synagogue and watched me, and at that point I became a Conservative Jew. That’s where I found my home and my voice and the ability as a female to equally participate,” said Shvartzmann, whose parents emigrated to the U.S. from Russia as children.

Shvartsmann went to California State University, Northridge, and afterward joined Avodah Service Corp., an immersive service year for young adults who are passionate about social justice. She worked as a paralegal for the New York Legal Assistance Group. Then she participated in the Hadar Institute in Manhattan, which supports the development of traditional yet egalitarian Judaism.

After the two-and-a-half-year gap, she entered JTS and received her ordination last May and a master’s degree in Jewish studies. During her education, she served as a rabbinic intern at Hillel at Binghamton University, Congregation Beth El in South Orange, New Jersey, and Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El.

At Hillel, it was her mission to bring egalitarian Jewish life to campus where absent. “It was important for there to be a rabbi to turn to and ask the big questions in an egalitarian world about how they want their Jewish lives to look.”

She spent her summers leading a USY on Wheels division and teaching at Camp Ramah in Nyack, New York, and Wisconsin.

The same year that Shvartsmann interned at TBH-BE, the synagogue grew by 125 families. At over 700 families, it was time to take on an assistant spiritual leader to Rabbi Ethan Witkovsky. Shvartsmann was the pick.

As an assistant rabbi, she works with the religious school, adult education, pastoral care and life cycle events. She is starting a new program for Jews in their 20s and 30s.

Shvartsmann is impressed by the synagogue’s one-year growth spurt, which has filled the preschool to capacity. More than 200 students are attending the religious school.

“The synagogue is so lively and bursting,” said Shvartsmann. “We have a very dedicated core of Conservative Jews who come every Shabbat. We have a ton of walkers coming to shul. We have kids running around everywhere. It’s just a really nice, dedicated community and they’re excited to have more rabbinic leadership.”

The Hamas massacre on Oct. 7 gave her a reason to focus “on caring for my community members and making sure we are caring for each other. All of my rabbinic work is relationship-oriented. From relationships comes the power to make change.”

“I could do it minimally as an intern, but it’s definitely part of my focus now,” she said.

“It’s hard to find joy in our lives when there’s so much suffering in Israel. I see my role as, first of all, honoring those emotions and giving space for those emotions to come out and I’m also trying to find avenues to continue helping and praying together.”

Shvartsmann is sharing pulpit roles with Witkovsky during the High Holidays. In her sermon preparation, she makes sure that “we are speaking about what needs to be heard. This is much more pertinent this year when we have gone through so much tragedy. It’s definitely a lot more preparation, making sure that congregants walk away with some new Torah, some new information.”

Ellen Braunstein is a freelance writer.