Javier Smolarz, a Cantor of Argentine origin, moved to the United States in 2004. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he grew up in a traditional family. From an early age, he attended Jewish day schools where he began to develop his love for Judaism and its traditions.
After celebrating his Bar Mitzvah, Javier started helping in his Temple and participated in a special course for Baalei Tefilah, Leading the Tefilah, specially designed for teenagers within his community. His passion for music and religious service was consolidated while singing small parts of the services alongside the hazzanim. His dedication and talent led him to participate more and more, and at the age of 17, he conducted the family services at Congregacion Israelita de la Calle Libertad, the largest synagogue in Buenos Aires together with another friend, a Marshall T. Meyer Seminario intern.
From that moment on, Javier has not stopped singing in synagogues. In addition to his musical and religious training, he studied at the Hebrew High School and later entered the Seminario Rabinico Latinoamericano. At the same time, he pursued a medical degree at the University of Buenos Aires demonstrating his commitment to both his faith and academic education.
Starting in 2000, Javier began traveling to the United States where he served as a Cantor during the High Holidays in Texas and North Carolina. Later, he received an offer to be the Ritual Director/Cantor at Congregation Ahavat Sholom in Fort Worth, Texas. Although he initially thought he would stay only two years, he stayed seven years in that community. During this time, he met his wife Dina whom he married in Mexico in 2007.
In 2011, Javier and Dina moved to Mexico where he worked again as a pediatrician in a public hospital and as a Cantor at Beth Israel Community Center, a small conservative community in Mexico City. Additionally, when that synagogue was without a Rabbi, he filled that position for over a year. In 2015, their daughter Galia was born, and the family decided to return to the United States. He worked as a Cantor at the Merrick Jewish Center in Merrick, New York from 2016 to 2018. They then moved to South Florida where he served as a Cantor at Temple Sholom of Pompano Beach from 2018 to 2023.
In October 2023, he accepted a part-time position at Temple Torat Emet as an ad hoc Cantor as needed, and this past July, he became the official Cantor at TTE.
Javier has studied with various renowned Cantors in Argentina. Among them are Cantor Leibele Schwartz, Cantor Cesar Beleniski, Cantor Oscar Fleischer, and Cantor Izhak Zhrebker from Dallas, Texas. He has participated in many Cantors’ conventions in the United States and Argentina as well as in various concerts in the United States, Argentina, and Mexico.
When asked what attracted him to the work of the pulpit and why he left medicine, Javier responded: “I have not left medicine. Medicine and the pulpit have something in common – serving others. In one, I do it with knowledge and hands; in the other, I do it with knowledge and voice. But in both, passion, understanding, empathy, warmth, and love for others are needed. That’s why these two professions that seem so distant are actually very close.”