September 22, 2026

Introducing the 2026 Pomegranate Prize Recipients

The Covenant Foundation

Miriam Anzovin

Miriam Anzovin is an artist and content creator exploring the juxtaposition of Jewish culture and digital culture. Her work as a Jewish learning content creator focuses on encountering Jewish texts from the perspective of a formerly Orthodox, now secular, millennial feminist. From this perspective, she is a translator of traditional texts into the emotional and cultural language of contemporary life. Miriam inhabits a distinctive space between rigorous learning and internet-era storytelling, bringing classical Jewish sources, especially Talmud, into conversation with psychology, pop culture, humor, and everyday human experience. At her core, Miriam is a mediator between worlds: traditional text and digital culture, reverence and critique, and scholarship and emotional literacy. She approaches Torah not as something to preserve unchanged, but as something to wrestle with publicly, believing that honest engagement, even when messy or uncomfortable, is itself a form of devotion. Previously, Miriam worked in content and social media production at Combined Jewish Philanthropies and JewishBoston.com. Based in Natick, Massachusetts, she earned her BA in Judaic studies from UMass Amherst.

Rabbanit Dalia Davis

Rabbanit Dalia Davis is a Jewish educator and artist who is passionate about creating opportunities for healing and spiritual growth. Based outside Minneapolis, Minnesota, she currently serves as director of pastoral education for SVIVAH. In addition, she facilitates Jewish learning with adults for the Minnesota Jewish Women’s Circle, the Congregation Darchei Noam Tanach learning group, and Jewfolk’s FolkLab. Dalia is currently designing a K-8 Jewish studies curriculum for Smith Jewish Academy and has crafted a secondary school curriculum for Congregation Darchei Noam. Additionally, she is a dance choreographer whose compositions explore Jewish thought and express Jewish experiences through movement. Dalia created Beit Midrash in Motion, a fully embodied approach to Jewish learning, through which she guides participants to approach the study of Jewish text through movement. She also co-founded the organization Uprooted: A Jewish Communal Response to Fertility Journeys and authored Fertility Journeys: A Jewish Healing Guide for Mayyim Hayyim. Dalia graduated from Yeshivat Maharat’s Advance Kollel, earned her MA in Jewish education and a certificate in Talmud and halachah from Yeshiva University. She received her BA in Jewish history and dance from Barnard College.

Eliana Eshel

Eliana Eshel is a visionary educator, passionate about early childhood education, Jewish learning, and creative expression. She serves as pedagogical leader at the Saul Spielberg Early Childhood Center of United Hebrew Congregation, where she partners with teachers and children to cultivate meaningful, inquiry-based Jewish learning experiences. Eliana also serves as director of learning experiences with The Paradigm Project, where she designs and facilitates professional learning for Jewish early childhood educators while supporting collaborative inquiry and educational leadership. She co-leads the Stories from the Field initiative, which elevates educators’ voices through reflection and storytelling. Drawing on her background in theatrical design, Eliana reimagines learning environments through storytelling and creative languages, creating spaces that invite wonder, relationship, and meaning-making. Her work is guided by a commitment to shaping the future of Jewish education through reflective practice, relationships, curiosity, connection, and belonging. Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Eliana earned her BA in early childhood education from American Jewish University and certification in theatrical design from Kibbutzim College in Tel Aviv. She is currently pursuing an MA in leadership in early childhood education at Bank Street College of Education.

Avidan Halivni

Avidan Halivni is the director of learning for Mem Global’s Jewish Learning Collaborative, a new platform for professional development that offers customized, one-on-one Jewish learning for professionals and lay leaders at Jewish organizations. In this role, Avidan listens closely to the questions and challenges each person is grappling with in the moment and connects them with an appropriate mentor to guide them on their professional journey. Additionally, he supervises a network of more than 200 educators from a variety of denominations, life stages, geographic locations, and educational styles. Previously, Avidan served as a Ramah Service Corps fellow in a Hebrew-German bilingual school in Berlin and on the Jewish Education Team at Hillel Deutschland. He was a fellow in the M² Pedagogies of Peoplehood Research Fellowship and The Nachshon Project and has studied at Yeshivat Maale Gilboa, Yeshivat Hadar, and the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. Based in Chicago, Avidan earned his MA in the history of Judaism from the University of Chicago Divinity School and a BA in religion from Columbia University.

Jessica Herrmann

Jessica Herrmann serves as the director of field activation at Repair the World, where she works to build the Jewish Service Movement, including the strategic design of the Service Ambassador program. She is committed to empowering her generation to connect with Judaism through service, building partnerships across diverse communities, and creating transformative educational experiences. Jessica’s Judaism has always been kindled by the need to foster compassion and courage for social change. Previously, she served as the director of Jewish service learning at Mem Global, director of experiential education at Temple Shaaray Tefila, and team leader at Repair the World in Philadelphia. She has completed fellowships including Adamah’s Shamati Fellowship, Matan’s Lieberman Fellowship, M²’s Senior Jewish Educator Cohort, and Hadar’s Jewish Wisdom Fellowship. Based in Philadelphia, she has led several Mem Global Jewish Learning Retreats, taught at Limmud and BBYO conferences, and serves on the Program Committee for 3G Philadelphia and the Advisory Board for Asbell Center for Jewish Life. Jessica earned her MA in experiential education and Jewish cultural arts from The George Washington University and her BA from Dickinson College.

Rabbi Eliana Kayelle

Rabbi Eliana Kayelle is a leading queer educator who believes that collective power and radical listening are essential to building an equitable, liberated, and inclusive future. Eliana currently serves as the Bay Area education and training manager at Keshet, where they create and lead local and national trainings on LGBTQ+ equality and belonging. Eliana is also a lead educator for Camp Tawonga, where they create innovative programs for students and families year-round through nature, art, and t’filah. Previously, Eliana was a Jewish educator at Temple Beth El of Huntington, assistant director of Camp Ga’avah (a program for LGBTQ+ youth), and a Jeremiah Fellow with Bend the Arc. Based in Berkeley, California, Eliana inspires learners to think about how Jewish texts and traditions are relevant today and how they can be used to create a more just world. Their writing has been published in The Jewish News of Northern California, The Forward, Lilith, and Hey Alma. Eliana received rabbinic ordination in the first cohort of the Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary.

Rozeeta Mavashev

Rozeeta Mavashev has a passion for education that has shaped both her professional path and volunteerism. Based in Airmont, New York, she currently serves as the North America executive director of Masa Israel Journey. Previously, she was director of Jewish campus life and engagement at Tanger Hillel in Brooklyn and director of student life at Hunter Hillel in Manhattan. Rozeeta is deeply committed to amplifying diverse Jewish voices, particularly those of Mizrahi and Sephardi descent. A first-generation American whose parents immigrated from Uzbekistan, she was the first Bukharian to be selected as a Wexner Davidson Graduate Fellow. In addition, she is a recipient of the Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award from Hillel International, was named to The Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36” for her leadership in elevating diverse Jewish narratives, and serves on the board of directors of SAMi: Sephardic American Mizrahi Initiative. Rozeeta earned her master’s degree in social work, with a concentration in clinical therapy, and received her BA in secondary education and English literature from the College of Staten Island.

Jonah Peretz-Lange

Jonah Peretz-Lange serves as the manager of curriculum design at Moving Traditions, where he is responsible for maintaining and designing curricula for family, teens, and preteen programs. He is passionate about creating engaging resources based on pedagogical best practices that are situated within our trove of tradition. A former day school, b’nei mitzvah, and summer program educator, Jonah has taught Grades 5-12 in a variety of settings, including at New York’s Abraham Joshua Heschel School and Boston’s Jewish Community Day School. He has tutored rabbinical students in Talmud, Hebrew, and Aramaic, and serves as a Mahloket Matters facilitator for the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. He completed the Pedagogy of Partnership professional development program and was awarded a Hadar Community Group Grant to facilitate a local nigun collective. Based in New York’s Hudson Valley, Jonah earned his MA in Jewish education with a certificate in Jewish day school education from Hebrew College. He has also studied at Pardes and Yeshivat Hadar and earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Massachusetts.

Rabbi Aaron Portman

Rabbi Aaron Portman serves as the campus rabbi and senior Jewish educator at The Ohio State University Hillel. In this role over the past three years, he has helped his community weather the difficulties that Jewish students have faced on campus due to antisemitism. Based in Columbus, Ohio, Aaron is passionate about interfaith work, pluralism, and Jewish learning, and has created a vast array of programs on campus to bring students together in learning and community. Before joining OSU Hillel, he was a Dorot Fellow in Israel, where he engaged in extensive interreligious dialogue and peacebuilding work. Previously, Aaron also served as a chaplain resident at OSU’s Wexner Medical Center and as an adjunct professor in the Jewish Studies Department at CUNY’s City College. He is a graduate of the second Senior Educators Cohort through the Mandel Institute for Nonprofit Leadership. Aaron earned his rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah as a Wexner Graduate Fellow. He holds a certificate in spiritual leadership and social impact from New York University and a BA in English from Yeshiva University.

Rabbi Lauren Tuchman

Rabbi Lauren Tuchman is a sought-after speaker, spiritual leader, and Jewish educator based in Washington, D.C. She leads workshops across North America on disability access and inclusion and teaches in multiple Jewish mindfulness and meditation communities.  Lauren’s work is grounded in a deep commitment to radical inclusivity and the belief that anyone can contribute their unique insights. In partnership with Kirva, Lauren launched “Disability Wisdom as Soul Care,” a musar learning group that centers disabled experiences and equips participants with Jewish spiritual wisdom. She completed Jewish mindfulness teacher training in 2026 under the auspices of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS) and Or HaLev and is a Marbeh Fellow with IJS. Previously, Lauren served on the Talmud faculty of the Hebrew Seminary for the Deaf and Hearing and as a teacher with SVARA. Currently, she serves on the board of JOIN for Justice. Lauren earned her rabbinic ordination and MA in Judaic studies from The Jewish Theological Seminary and her BA in religion from Dickinson College.