We are saddened to inform you of the passing of Malkah Schulweis
Wife of Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis [z”l]
Mother of Alisa (Peter) Reich, Seth (Esther Netter) Schulweis, Eitan Shalev (Cindy) Schulweis
Grandmother of 7
Great-grandmother of 3
Malkah Schulweis has been a beloved presence at Valley Beth Shalom for more than fifty years. The loving wife of Rabbi Harold Schulweis [z”l], mother to Seth, Eitan and Alisa, grandmother and great-grandmother, Malkah was a brilliant teacher, an insightful therapist, and a caring friend. She was a community leader and a healer carrying forward a vision of Jewish life and ethical action that she and Rabbi Schulweis nurtured over the decades of their loving partnership. When she spoke, sharing her deep wisdom, her words were filled with urgency and passion.
The Institute thanks Valley Beth Shalom for allowing us to include this summary of Malkah Schulweis’ Life here:
Born and raised in a large, loving immigrant family in New York City, Malkah received her formal education at the Hunter College High School, UC Berkeley and the California Graduate Institute. Her real education took place in the galleries of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and at her family Sabbath table. When she was 17, Malkah met Harold Schulweis at a Purim dance. Their first date was at the Automat, a New York institution. They were married at the Park Avenue Synagogue a year later.
Malkah defied the model of the rabbinic wife, assuming the role of Harold’s creative and intellectual partner. She completed her Master’s Degree in English Literature at Berkeley and embarked upon a career as a collegiate instructor at San Fernando Valley State College (now CSUN). Later, she turned to psychology, completing an internship at the California State Hospital at Camarillo, and launching a career
as a therapist in private practice.
Above all, Malkah Schulweis lived and taught Godliness — a spirituality that turns our attention from the heavens above to the soul within. Malkah demanded that we raise our expectations of ourselves, our Judaism, our community. She represented a way of living that testifies to the potential of human beings to build a world of compassion, generosity and caring. Malkah taught us all that Godliness lives within us.