Schwartzman studied at Yeshivas Bais Yosef Novardok under Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, known as the Steipler Gaon.

[1] In 1933, at age 12, he transferred to the Hebron Yeshiva in the Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem[3] His mother descended from a prominent Lubavitcher family.

He was named after his maternal grandfather's brother, Dovber HaYitzchoki, who was the father of Reb Zalman Moishe HaYitzchaki, a devoted follower of the Rebbe Rashab.

[1] In 1946 Schwartzman moved to the United States to marry Rabbi Kotler's daughter and began studying at the Lakewood Yeshiva, where he led chaburas (small-group learning sessions).

In the early 1970s, he co-founded the first yeshiva for baalei teshuva, Shema Yisrael, with Rabbis Mendel Weinbach, Nota Schiller, and Noach Weinberg.