Five young, passionate and exceptional Jewish educators making impact today, and holding great promise to be leaders in the field in the future, are the 2014 recipients of The Covenant Foundation’s Pomegranate Prize.

Representing a range of educational venues and approaches, recipients are: Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell, Founder and Director of the Center for Jewish Mindfulness in Chicago, and Program Director for the Institute for Jewish Spirituality in New York; Rabbi Michael Bitton, Director of Educational Technology and Judaic Studies teacher at Magen David Yeshivah High School in Brooklyn, New York; Talya S. Gillman, a Jewish educator and social justice advocate pursuing her M.A. in Transformational Leadership in Seattle; Oren J. Massey, Executive Director of Edah in Berkeley, California; and Rabbi Yigal Sklarin, a Talmud and Jewish History educator at The Ramaz Upper School in New York.

The Pomegranate Prize was established in 2011 and recognizes emerging leaders in Jewish education – those in the field for 10 years or less. The Prize stands next to The Covenant Award, which since 1991 has honored three exemplary Jewish educators each year for their records of innovation and impact across Jewish education settings.

“We know that encouragement early on in a person’s career can make all the difference in their success,” said James Crown, President of Henry Crown and Company and a member of the Foundation’s founding family. He introduced the Pomegranate Award recipients to Jewish lay, communal and educational leaders gathered at the Foundation’s annual award ceremony here today.

“Our goal with this Prize is to provide the means for these already remarkable educators to further develop their skills and interests, and have the chance to get to know others who, like themselves, are bringing fresh new ideas and abundant energy to the field of Jewish education,” he said.

The Covenant Foundation is creating a growing network of Pomegranate Prize recipients and providing a laboratory and platform for them as they immerse themselves in foundation-supported professional development and leadership programs, peer-to-peer gatherings, mentorships and other educator initiatives. Counting the 2014 group, there are now 20 Pomegranate Prize recipients, each of whom receives $15,000 to fuel educational projects and their development as change agents in their communities and in Jewish education.

Recipients have the opportunity to connect with thought leaders and extraordinary educators from across the spectrum of Jewish life through events sponsored by the Foundation over a three-year period, and five new educators will join the cohort each year.

“The Pomegranate Prize nurtures the seeds of emerging talent and publicly recognizes potential to contribute to a more promising future for Jewish education,” said Eli N. Evans, Chairman of the Board.

Harlene Winnick Appelman, Executive Director of The Covenant Foundation, added, “A teacher’s passion can spark the interest of a generation and encourage positive social growth. The Pomegranate Prize is a unique and powerful tool to support that passion, not only by identifying new levels of excellence and by encouraging specific innovations, but also by creating a community of problem-solvers, building theskills of individuals, and mobilizing new talent.”

Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell is co-founder and director of the Center for Jewish Mindfulness in Chicago, Director of Regional Programing at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality in New York, and Co-Founder of Orot: Center for New Jewish Learning in Chicago. At the Center for Jewish Mindfulness, he created the first community-based Jewish meditation center in the Midwest, and teaches, organizes, and administers trans-denominational programs throughout the Chicago area. At the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, he directs and teaches trainings in Jewish mindfulness practice both regionally and nationally. He was ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and served as rabbi at Aitz Hayim Center for Jewish Living in Glencoe, IL. Prior to pursuing his rabbinical studies, he studied Conservation Biology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, spent several months at Zen centers in California and France, and studied Jewish text at the Conservative Yeshiva and Machon Pardes in Jerusalem. In 2012, he was named on the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago 36 Under 36 list of influential young Jews.

The Covenant Foundation is a program of the Crown Family Philanthropies.