Covenant Foundation honors young educators

NEW YORK (JTA) — Five Jewish educators have been awarded the Covenant Foundation’s 2013 Pomegranate Prize.

Each recipient receives $15,000 for their educational projects and development as change agents in their communities and in Jewish education.

The recipients are Risa Alyson Cooper, executive director of Shoresh Jewish Environmental Programs in Toronto; Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann, founder of Mishkan Chicago; Rabbi Yechiel Hoffman, director of youth learning and engagement at Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles; Rabbi Todd Markley, associate rabbi at Temple Beth Shalom in Needham, Mass.; and Yonatan Rosner, a Judaic studies teacher and director of the T’fillah Kehillah Institute at New Community Jewish High School in West Hills, Calif.

The Pomegranate Prize, which was established in 2011 to recognize “passionate, emerging leaders in Jewish education,” goes to those in the field for 10 years or less.

The foundation’s Covenant Award since 1991 has honored three Jewish educators each year.