The 2020 Pomegranate Prize Symposium

On Monday October 19th, the Covenant Foundation honored 2020 Pomegranate Prize recipients. The virtual symposium program also included a live...

Koolulam in Concert

Ben Yaffet, Lilach Krakauer, and Yaron Eigenstein, of the Israeli social-musical initiative Koolulam, perform at the 2020 Covenant Awards virtual celebration.

“Ilu Finu” Musical Performance

Oren Kaunfer, Natan Kuchar, Alicia Jo Rabins, and Karina Zilberman sing the joyous psalm “Ilu Finu,” as part of the...

Covenant Sings with Koolulam

Covenant friends join together from far and wide to bless the 2020 Covenant awards recipients as they sing a medley...

The 2020 Covenant Awards Virtual Celebration

On Sunday October 18th the Covenant Foundation honored 2020 Award recipients Maxine Segal Handelman, Russel Neiss and Amanda Pogany, at...

Educating for the Heart: Krista Tippett in Conversation with Dr. Arnold M. Eisen

On November 14, 2018, The Covenant Foundation and The Jewish Theological Seminary co-sponsored a symposium in memory of Dr. Jonathan...

Love in Education: Krista Tippett in Conversation with Dr. Arnold M. Eisen

On November 14, 2018, The Covenant Foundation and The Jewish Theological Seminary co-sponsored a symposium in memory of Dr. Jonathan...

Build This World Together

Alicia Jo Rabins, Karina Zilberman, Camp Ramah Nyack, Camp Nesher, the Ramaz Chamber Choir, and Tizmoret, Queens College Hillel’s professional...

A Meditation on Jewish Education: And the Youth Shall See Visions

An original work of art commissioned in honor of The Covenant Foundation’s 25th Anniversary. Music and lyrics by Debbie Friedman,...

Inclusion Practices in the Jewish Community: Sara Rubinow Simon

Inspired Teachers 2015 - Rabbi Yisroel Boruch Sufrin

Inspired Teachers 2015 - Rabbi Yakov Horowitz

Inspired Teachers 2015 - Gitta Jaroslawicz-Neufeld

Inspired Teachers 2015 - Beth Huppin

Inspired Educators 2015 - Amy Skopp Cooper

Amanda Pogany - 2020 Award Recipient

Amanda Pogany is Head of School at Luria Academy of Brooklyn in Brooklyn, New York. At Luria Academy, where she...

Maxine Segal Handelman - 2020 Award Recipient

Maxine Segal Handelman is the Director of Family Life & Learning at Anshe Emet Synagogue in Chicago, Illinois. At Anshe...

Russel M. Neiss - 2020 Award Recipient

Russel M. Neiss is Senior Product Engineer at Sefaria, which is based in New York. At Sefaria, Russel M. Neiss...

Risa Strauss - 2019 Award Recipient

Risa Strauss is Education Director at Beth Shalom Synagogue and Founding Director of Camp Gesher at The Katie and Irwin...

Sally Grazi-Shatzkes - 2019 Award Recipient

Sally Grazi-Shatzkes is a Registered Drama Therapist, Licensed Creative Arts Therapist and Theater Director at Yeshivah of Flatbush in Brooklyn,...

Dr. Gregory Beiles - 2019 Award Recipient

Dr. Gregory Beiles is Head of School at The Toronto Heschel School and Director of the The Lola Stein Institute...

Deborah Newbrun - 2018 Award Recipient

Deborah Newbrun is Senior Jewish Educator and Director Emeritus at Camp Tawonga in San Francisco. A pioneer of the Jewish...

Naomi Ackerman - 2018 Award Recipient

Naomi Ackerman is the Founder and Executive Director of The Advot Project in Los Angeles. At Advot, Ackerman began a...

Susie Tanchel - 2018 Award Recipient

Susie Tanchel is Head of School at JCDS, Boston’s Jewish Community Day School. At JCDS, Tanchel focuses on infusing school...

Ilana Ruskay-Kidd - 2016 Award Recipient

Ilana Ruskay-Kidd is the Founder and Head of School at The Shefa School in New York, a pluralistic Jewish day...

Rabbi Benay Lappe - 2016 Award Recipient

Rabbi Benay Lappe, founder of Chicago’s SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva, accepted the award from James Crown. At SVARA, Rabbi...

Rabbi Tully Harcsztark - 2017 Award Recipient

Guided by the leadership of Founding Principal Rabbi Tully Harcsztark, SAR High School in Riverdale, New York has become a...

Dr. Jane Sherwin Shapiro - 2017 Award Recipient

As Co-Founder of OROT: Center for New Jewish Learning in Skokie, IL, Dr. Jane Sherwin Shapiro teaches students of all...

Meredith Englander Polsky - 2017 Award Recipient

Meredith Englander Polsky is the National Director of Institutes and Training at Matan in New York, and Developmental Support Coordinator...

Daniel Henkin - 2016 Award Recipient

A pioneer of Jewish a capella singing, Daniel Henkin has been dubbed “our beloved Jewish rock star” by those who...

Amy Meltzer - 2015 Award Recipient

Amy Meltzer, the lead Kindergarten teacher at Lander-Grinspoon Academy (LGA) in Northampton, MA, is proving that a small classroom in...

Michelle Shapiro Abraham - 2015 Award Recipient

Michelle Shapiro Abraham, Director of Program Development for the Campaign for Youth Engagement at the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ),...

Dr. Sandra Ostrowicz Lilienthal - 2015 Award Recipient

Dr. Sandra Ostrowicz Lilienthal, Curriculum Developer and Instructor at The Rose and Jack Orloff Central Agency for Jewish Education of...

Dr. Rebecca Schorsch - 2014 Award Recipient

Dr. Rebecca Schorsch, Director of Jewish Studies at Chicagoland Jewish High School (CJHS) in Deerfield, IL, has made an impact...

Rabbi Yisroel Boruch Sufrin - 2014 Award Recipient

Rabbi Yisroel Boruch Sufrin, Head of School at Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy (HHHA) in Beverly Hills, CA for the past...

Alison Kur - 2014 Award Recipient

Alison Kur, Executive Director of Jewish Living at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, MA, is an attorney-turned-Jewish educator, who in...

Zion Ozeri - 2013 Award Recipient

Zion Ozeri, Founder and Creative Director of The Jewish Lens, combined his longtime occupation as a photographer and documentarian of...

Judy Finkelstein-Taff - 2013 Award Recipient

Judy Finkelstein-Taff, Head of School at the Chicago Jewish Day School (CJDS) since 2004, is a life-long Jewish educator who...

Howard Blas - 2013 Award Recipient

Howard Blas, Director of the Tikvah Program at Camp Ramah in New England, is driven by a passion for inclusive...

Peter Geffen - 2012 Award Recipient

Peter Geffen, Founder of KIVUNIM and The Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York, has devoted his career in Jewish...

Karina Zilberman - 2012 Award Recipient

Karina Zilberman, Director of Jewish Family Life and Culture at 92nd Street Y in New York since 2007, is the...

Gitta Jaroslawicz-Neufeld - 2012 Award Recipient

Gitta Jaroslawicz-Neufeld, Director of Education at Allegra Franco School of Educational Leadership in Brooklyn for the past seven years, has...

Rabbi Shai Held - 2011 Award Recipient

Rabbi Shai Held is co-founder, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Mechon Hadar: An Institute for Prayer, Personal Growth...

Amy Skopp Cooper - 2011 Award Recipient

Amy Skopp Cooper has served as Director of Ramah Day Camp in Nyack (New York) since 1997, and as Assistant...

Rabbi Eve Ben-Ora - 2011 Award Recipient

Rabbi Eve Ben-Ora, Jewish Educator at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco (JCCSF) for the last five years, and...

Dr. Bernard Steinberg - 2010 Award Recipient

Dr. Bernard Steinberg has served as President and Director of Harvard Hillel since 1993. He is known across the field...

Beth Huppin - 2010 Award Recipient

Beth Huppin has taught day school Judaic Studies at the Seattle Jewish Community School since 1995 and is currently a...

Jan Darsa - 2010 Award Recipient

Jan Darsa, Director of Jewish Education at Facing History and Ourselves for the last 15 years, is a trailblazing advocate...

Stuart Seltzer - 2009 Award Recipient

Rabbi Stuart Seltzer has served as Dean of Judaic Studies at the Shoshana S. Cardin School in Baltimore since 2007,...

Nili Simhai - 2009 Award Recipient

Nili Simhai has served for the last decade as director of the Teva Learning Center in New York, a prestigious...

Erica Brown - 2009 Award Recipient

Dr. Erica Brown, Scholar-in-Residence at the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and Director of Adult Education at the Partnership for...

Susan Werk - 2008 Award Recipient

Yakov Horowitz - 2008 Award Recipient

Diana Ganger - 2008 Award Recipient

Philip Warmflash - 2007 Award Recipient

Bruce Powell - 2007 Award Recipient

Tobie Brandriss - 2007 Award Recipient

Loren Sykes - 2006 Award Recipient

Marc Kramer - 2006 Award Recipient

Jane Taubenfeld Cohen - 2006 Award Recipient

Covenant in Action - Camp Yofi

Rabbi Loren Sykes, a Covenant Award recipient, offers an inside look at Camp Yofi, a nationally recognized and one-of-a-kind week-long...

Covenant in Action: Project Ezra

Never underestimate the ability of an 83-year-old immigrant from Moldova to set a room on fire. So it was in...

Covenant in Action: Beit T'Shuvah

She’s a freshman in high school, and considers herself a play-by-the-rules sort of straight arrow, keeping her grades up, participating...

The Covenant Foundation: 23 Years Young

Covenant in Action - adDRESSING women's lives

adDRESSING women's lives, an innovative educational initiative at The Weber School in Atlanta, pairs students with senior women in an...

Eight Miracles of Jewish Education

A special Chanukah greeting from The Covenant Foundation. Performed by Avi Fox-Rosen.

Shanah Tovah from The Covenant Foundation

A musical greeting from The Covenant Foundation in honor of Rosh Hashanah 5780, with music courtesy of Covenant Award Recipient...

The Creation of an Artists’ Beit Midrash, A Jewish Artists Lab

Covenant Award recipient Jody Hirsh explains the genesis of the Artists’ Beit Midrash, a Jewish Artists’ Lab which originated at...

With Open Hearts, Wishes for a Sweet New Year

In honor of the holiday, we share with you a recording of the song “Amen,” sung by Tizmoret, a Jewish...

Hearts and Minds

“Small Dances About Big Ideas,” commissioned by Harvard Law School and created by choreographer Liz Lerman, uses motion, sound and...

Eli N. Evans and Grover Offer Greetings

Eli N. Evans, Board Chair of The Covenant Foundation, and Grover, resident muppet of Shalom Sesame, greet attendees at the...

A Vision in 4 Parts: A Submission to the Jewish Futures Competition, by Russel Neiss and Charlie Schwartz

Jewish Women’s Learning Consultation

On October 9, 2007, the Foundation brought together representatives from the organizations it has funded, as well as other leaders...

Amanda Pogany, Covenant Award Recipient – 2020 Acceptance Speech

Russel M. Neiss, Covenant Award Recipient – 2020 Acceptance Speech

Maxine Segal Handelman, Covenant Award Recipient – 2020 Acceptance Speech

Sally Grazi-Shatzkes, Covenant Award Recipient – 2019 Acceptance Speech

Risa Strauss, Covenant Award Recipient – 2019 Acceptance Speech

Dr. Gregory Beiles, Covenant Award Recipient – 2019 Acceptance Speech

Naomi Ackerman, Covenant Award Recipient – 2018 Acceptance Speech

Deborah Newbrun, Covenant Award Recipient – 2018 Acceptance Speech

Susie Tanchel, Covenant Award Recipient – 2018 Acceptance Speech

Rabbi Tully Harcsztark, Covenant Award Recipient – 2017 Acceptance Speech

Meredith Englander Polsky, Covenant Award Recipient – 2017 Acceptance Speech

Dr. Jane Sherwin Shapiro, Covenant Award Recipient – 2017 Acceptance Speech

Acceptance Speeches 2016 Rabbi Benay Lappe

Acceptance Speeches 2016 Ilana Ruskay-Kidd

Daniel Henkin, Covenant Award Recipient - 2016 Acceptance Speech

Amy Meltzer, Covenant Award Recipient - 2015 Acceptance Speech

Michelle Shapiro Abraham, Covenant Award Recipient - 2015 Acceptance Speech

Dr. Sandra Ostrowicz Lilienthal, Covenant Award Recipient - 2015 Acceptance Speech

Dr. Rebecca Schorsch, Covenant Award Recipient - 2014 Acceptance Speech

Rabbi Yisroel Boruch, Covenant Award Recipient - 2014 Acceptance Speech

Alison Kur, Covenant Award Recipient - 2014 Acceptance Speech

Zion Ozeri, Covenant Award Recipient - 2013 Acceptance Speech

Judy Finkelstein-Taff, Covenant Award Recipient - 2013 Acceptance Speech

Howard Blas, Covenant Award Recipient - 2013 Acceptance Speech

Karina Zilberman, Covenant Award Recipient - 2012 Acceptance Speech

Gitta Jaroslawicz-Neufeld, Covenant Award Recipient - 2012 Acceptance Speech

Peter Geffen, Covenant Award Recipient - 2012 Acceptance Speech

Shai Held, Covenant Award Recipient - 2011 Acceptance Speech

Amy Skopp Cooper, Covenant Award Recipient - 2011 Acceptance Speech

Eve Ben-Ora, Covenant Award Recipient - 2011 Acceptance Speech

Bernard Steinberg, Covenant Award Recipient - 2010 Acceptance Speech

Beth Huppin, Covenant Award Recipient - 2010 Acceptance Speech

Jan Darsa, Covenant Award Recipient - 2010 Acceptance Speech

Diana Ganger, Covenant Award Recipient - 2008 Acceptance Speech

Yakov Horowitz, Covenant Award Recipient - 2008 Acceptance Speech

Susan Werk, Covenant Award Recipient - 2008 Acceptance Speech

Bruce Powell, Covenant Award Recipient - 2007 Acceptance Speech

Philip Warmflash, Covenant Award Recipient - 2007 Acceptance Speech

Tobie Brandriss, Covenant Award Recipient - 2007 Acceptance Speech

Jane Taubenfeld Cohen, Covenant Award Recipient - 2006 Acceptance Speech

Loren Sykes, Covenant Award Recipient - 2006 Acceptance Speech

Marc Kramer, Covenant Award Recipient - 2006 Acceptance Speech

Elyse Goldstein, Covenant Award Recipient - 2005 Acceptance Speech

Jody Hirsh, Covenant Award Recipient - 2005 Acceptance Speech

Stephanie Rotsky, Covenant Award Recipient - 2005 Acceptance Speech

Ruth Pinkenson Feldman, Covenant Award Recipient - 2004 Acceptance Speech

Barbara Rosenblit, Covenant Award Recipient - 2004 Acceptance Speech

Vicky Kelman, Covenant Award Recipient - 2003 Acceptance Speech

William C. Berk, Covenant Award Recipient - 2003 Acceptance Speech

Zipora Schorr, Covenant Award Recipient - 2003 Acceptance Speech

Peretz Wolf-Prusan, Covenant Award Recipient - 2002 Acceptance Speech

Rivy Kletenik, Covenant Award Recipient - 2002 Acceptance Speech

Sidney Schwarz, Covenant Award Recipient - 2002 Acceptance Speech

Daniel Landau, Covenant Award Recipient - 2001 Acceptance Speech

Jo Kay, Covenant Award Recipient - 2001 Acceptance Speech

Lorraine Posner Arcus, Covenant Award Recipient - 2001 Acceptance Speech

David S. Silber, Covenant Award Recipient - 2000 Acceptance Speech

Karen Shawn, Covenant Award Recipient - 2000 Acceptance Speech

Yosi (Joel) Gordon, Covenant Award Recipient - 2000 Acceptance Speech

Macy B. Hart, Covenant Award Recipient - 1999 Acceptance Speech

Cheryl Finkel, Covenant Award Recipient - 1999 Acceptance Speech

Judith Z. Abrams z"l, Covenant Award Recipient - 1999 Acceptance Speech

Henia Lewin, Covenant Award Recipient - 1997 Acceptance Speech

Yaakov Bender, Covenant Award Recipient - 1997 Acceptance Speech

Debbie Friedman z"l, Covenant Award Recipient - 1996 Acceptance Speech

Ellie Gellman, Covenant Award Recipient - 1996 Acceptance Speech

Fred Rosenbaum, Covenant Award Recipient - 1996 Acceptance Speech

Yosef I. Abramowitz, Covenant Award Recipient – 2004 Acceptance Speech

Martin Schloss, Covenant Award Recipient - 1995 Acceptance Speech

Misha Gabriel Avramoff, Covenant Award Recipient - 1995 Acceptance Speech

Peninnah Schram, Covenant Award Recipient - 1995 Acceptance Speech

Linda Rabinowitch Thal, Covenant Award Recipient - 1994 Acceptance Speech

Richard Levy, Covenant Award Recipient - 1994 Acceptance Speech

Rabbi Berel Wein, Covenant Award Recipient - 1993 Acceptance Speech

Danny Siegel, Covenant Award Recipient - 1993 Acceptance Speech

Dvorah Smolensky Heckelman, Covenant Award Recipient - 1993 Acceptance Speech

David Eliach, Covenant Award Recipient - 1992 Acceptance Speech

Marcia Lapidus Kaunfer, Covenant Award Recipient - 1992 Acceptance Speech

Tova Shimon, Covenant Award Recipient - 1992 Acceptance Speech

Harlene Winnick Appleman, Covenant Award Recipient - 1991 Acceptance Speech

Sara Rubinow Simon, Covenant Award Recipient - 1991 Acceptance Speech

Ateret Cohn z"l, Covenant Award Recipient - 1991 Acceptance Speech

Amnon Haramati, Covenant Award Recipient - 1994 Acceptance Speech

Covenant Foundation thank you videos

In celebration of a quarter-century-old tradition of honoring Jewish education and educators, and to kick off a year of public...

Thank a Teacher - Sightline Feb 2017

Our campaign of gratitude continues! Take a moment to listen to these video messages composed by Jewish educators, idea champions...

Powerful Engagement

Did you know? The Covenant Foundation Voices app, available for download in the App store and Google Play store, has...

The Bintel Brief: Letters from Jewish Life on New York's Lower East Side