Biography

Rabbi Neil Tow was raised in Potomac, Maryland, where he was actively involved with Congregation Har Sholom and the United Synagogue Youth (USY).

After graduating from high school in Potomac, he attended Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, where he became a leader in the campus Hillel organization. After graduating Tufts in 2000 with degrees in International Relations and Spanish, Rabbi Tow attended the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York City, where he was ordained.

During his time at JTS, he studied for one year in Israel, teaching at the Ivry Prozdor Hebrew High School; served High Holiday pulpits in Maryland, Ontario, South Carolina, and New York State; and worked as a student Rabbi at Congregation Sha'are Shalom in Leesburg, Virginia.

Rabbi Tow is married to Rabbi Rachel Schwartz, who was also ordained at JTS, and now serves as a hospice chaplain in New Jersey. Their pre-school daughter, Dara, is an enthusiastic participant in services at GRJC.

Rabbi Tow's goals are to make Jewish life and learning accessible and relevant to the lives of Jews in the 21st century.

Some of the programs Rabbi Tow has introduced to the community include:

• Bogrim, eighth- to ninth-grade Jewish education/social program
• Madrichim, 10th- to 12th-grade Jewish leadership training program
• Shabbat Sheli, pre-Shabbat service for first through third graders
• Widows-Widowers monthly support group
• Single-Parent family support group
• Interfaith Bible study program with the local Lutheran Church
• Pre-High Holiday classes every year
• Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah program
• Adult classes in Torah and Haftarah chanting
• Bar/Bat Mitzvah "Boot Camp" - Pre-Bar/Bat Mitzvah program for students and their families