About Rabbi Schiowitz
Rabbi Kenny Schiowitz
Rabbi Kenny Schiowitz is the founding rabbi of Congregation Shaare Tefillah. The Schiowitz family moved to Teaneck in the summer of 2003 in order to lead this fledgling community that was hosted in the Offenbacher home and that barely had a minyan on Shabbat. Under Rabbi Schiowitz’s leadership, Shaare Tefillah has grown its membership exponentially, has moved into a permanent building, and has developed as a supportive, cohesive and growth oriented community.
Rabbi Schiowitz also teaches at the Ramaz Upper School where he serves as Talmud Department Chair. As Talmud Chair he supervises the Talmud department and develops the curriculum. In addition, Rabbi Schiowitz holds the title of Rosh Beit Midrash. In that capacity, he supervises a YU-Kollel program and advances religious initiatives in the school. Rabbi Schiowitz also mentors new teachers and is participating in Avi Chai’s Jewish New Teacher training program. In addition, Rabbi Schiowitz is currently participating in the Lookstein Center Flipped Classroom Program. Video technology is integrated into his classroom and many of the videos can be accessed at the RamazTorah YouTube channel. Rabbi Schiowitz won the Grinspoon-Steinhardt Award for Excellence in Jewish Education in 2009.
At Yeshiva University, Rabbi Schiowitz directs the “HSChinuch Project”. The goal of this initiative is to increase collaboration among teachers in different schools and to advance professional development in the field of High School Jewish Education. In this capacity Rabbi Schiowitz manages and develops a website for high school teachers to share educational resources. In addition to cyber-collaboration, conferences are organized to bring teachers together to learn from each other and from experts in the field.
Rabbi Schiowitz studied at Yeshivat Kerem BeYavneh and at Yeshiva University. After earning a BS in Accounting and passing the CPA test, Rabbi Schiowitz completed smicha as a participant in the Wexner Smicha Honors Program. He then earned an MS in Jewish Education from Yeshiva University’s Azrieli Graduate School and studied for four years in YU’s post-smicha Kollel Elyon.
Rabbi Schiowitz is the author of Sefer Shiurei HaRav al Meseches Challah Ve’Inyanei Mitzvos Hateluyos Ba’aretz. It was published by the Mesorah Commision of the Orthodox Union in 2003. This is a volume that presents Rav Soloveitchik’s lectures on the topic of the halachot that relate to the Land of Israel. Working from class notes, these lectures were transformed into an edited and footnoted book.http://www.ou.org/oupress/item/65159