Rabbi Ari Ze’ev Schwartz is the author of “The Spiritual Revolution of Rav Kook: The Writings of a Jewish Mystic” and “The Spiritual Wisdom of Rav Kook: A New Collection of Writings” published in 2018 and 2024 through Gefen and Urim Publishing respectively. In addition, he has written several other books on the meaning of Shabbat, Prayer, and the Parasha.
Rabbi Schwartz is originally from Sydney, Australia, and studied at the University of New South Wales majoring in music and film before coming to Jerusalem, where he studied for eight years in several yeshivot in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Schwartz received his rabbinical ordination at the Shehebar Sephardic Center in Jerusalem under Rabbi Yaakov Peretz, and studied Talmud and Jewish Philosophy at Herzog Academic College.
Rabbi Schwartz served as the head rabbi of Bnei Akiva’s Hachshara program for three and a half years. From 2017-2020 he cofounded and was the dean of the Society of Independent Spirituality, an English-speaking learning center in Jerusalem that combined Jewish spirituality and Zionism. Currently, Rabbi Schwartz teaches at several yeshivot and midrashot in Jerusalem.