Rabbis Lebowitz and Kalinsky Appointed as New Deans of RIETS

Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz, formerly the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) director of semikha, has been appointed as the new Abraham Arbesfeld Torah Dean of RIETS, YU announced in August. Rabbi Yosef Kalinsky has assumed the role of Max and Marion Grill Administrative Dean of RIETS. 

Rabbi Lebowitz, an alumnus of Sy Syms School of Business and RIETS, is to succeed Rabbi Michael Taubes, who stepped in as interim dean in the spring following the departure of Rabbi Menachem Penner. Rabbi Kalinsky, also the dean of Undergraduate Torah Studies (UTS), will oversee RIETS’s administrative needs. Both appointments took effect at the beginning of the fall 2024 semester.

Joining RIETS in the fall of 2019 as the director of semikha, Rabbi Lebowitz has amassed a large following from his shiurim, regularly posted to YUTorah with more than 12,500 lectures that cover wide areas of Gemara and Halakha. In his new position, Rabbi Lebowitz has been appointed as rosh yeshiva and will oversee programming for both RIETS’s semikha program and other affiliated kollelim while continuing to deliver his regular shiurim. 

“I am so grateful to Rav Menachem Penner for his leadership and his incredible work in advancing RIETS, and am thrilled that he will continue to work on special projects for RIETS,” Rabbi Lebowitz told The Commentator. “I am deeply indebted to our President, Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, for the constant friendship he shows me, and the confidence that he has placed in me and Rabbi Kalinsky, entrusting us with helping to shape the future of our beloved yeshiva.”

Rabbi Kalinsky will continue to manage RIETS’s administrative needs, a role he had informally shared with Rabbi Lebowitz and RIETS Director of Professional Rabbinics Rabbi Larry Rothwachs after Rabbi Penner’s departure. 

Since 2019, when he succeeded Rabbi Penner as dean of UTS, Rabbi Kalinsky has overseen the day-to-day operations of YU’s four undergraduate learning programs, MYP, SBMP, IBC and JSS, and will continue to do so alongside his new responsibilities.

As the new administrative dean, Rabbi Kalinsky shared with The Commentator that some of his goals for the academic year include spending more time listening to students in how RIETS can be improved and working closely with Rabbi Lebowitz to further Torah-related objectives for the year.

“[We need] some more time before we consider implementing any changes,” Rabbi Kalinsky told The Commentator. “But we do hope to examine many of our operations and make sure that our curricular goals are aligned with the needs of our Talmidim and contemporary times.”

“I am very excited to play a role in training the rabbis of the next generation, poised to lead with knowledge and passion,” he added. 

In recent years, RIETS has expanded the number of certification programs for both semikha and post-semikha students. Last year, two new initiatives were launched: a Jewish Bioethics certification program began in fall 2023, and in spring 2024, RIETS launched an asynchronous joint semikha/MBA program, enabling semikha students in programs worldwide to enroll and earn an MBA. This fall, RIETS is launching a new program where students can earn a Master’s degree in Hebrew Literature while enrolled in their semikha program.

One change that’s already been implemented has been the hiring of Rabbi Aharon Ciment as a mashgiach, making him available to meet with semikha students individually during the afternoons and some evenings in the beit midrash. Although RIETS employs several mashgichim, Rabbi Ciment will be the first to be consistently accessible in the beit midrash throughout the day. Additionally, Rabbi Kalinsky told The Commentator that plans are underway to expand RIETS’s Jewish Bioethics certification program and launch a new cohort based in Los Angeles in partnership with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

News of Rabbis Lebowitz and Kalinsky’s appointments has been well received among semikha students.

“I think it’s an amazing thing,” Shimmie Green (RIETS ‘28) told The Commentator. “Both Rav Lebowitz and Rav Kalinsky are amazing leaders. I’m excited to see how the yeshiva improves under their leadership.”

Photo Caption: Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz (left) and Rabbi Yosef Kalinsky (right) 

Photo Credit: Yeshiva University