The Covenant Foundation, a Jewish education-focused group, awarded its annual prizes this week to three educators: Rabbi Tamara R. Cohen, Allison Cook and Nicole Nash. Each of the prize recipients will receive $50,000; the institutions where they work will receive $10,000.

Rabbi Cohen is chief program officer at the Moving Traditions Jewish youth group, based in Philadelphia. Allison Cook is the founder and co-director of the Pedagogy of Partnership in Cambridge, MA. Nicole Nash is head of the Hannah Senesh Community Day School in Brooklyn.

The awards honor “three exemplary Jewish educators who are each meeting a complex moment in Jewish communal history with a powerful blend of courage, commitment, and compassion,” according to the foundation, which is a program of the Crown Family Philanthropies. The foundation “elevates the work of Jewish educators and highlights their invaluable contributions to the community and the field,” the foundation said in a statement.

Barbra Streisand, actor, director, entertainer, writer and activist, will receive the 10th anniversary Genesis Prize in a ceremony in Los Angeles in October. The Genesis Prize honors Jewish people who have distinguished themselves in their chosen fields and for the benefit of Jewish causes and the State of Israel.

Stan Polovets, founder and chairman of the Genesis Prize Foundation, cited Ms. Streisand as “one of the world’s most beloved and admired performers.” She has delighted audiences for the past six decades with an amazing talent, and also has dedicated her time, resources and passion to important causes, speaking out wherever and whenever she saw injustice. Her sense of responsibility to heal the world grows out of her Jewish values and her Jewish identity, he said.

Ms. Streisand has asked the Genesis Prize Foundation to direct her $1 million prize money to nonprofit organizations working to protect the environment, promote women’s health, combat disinformation in the media, and aid Ukraine.

Three Jewish candidates have announced runs for the U.S. House of Representatives seat currently held by Rep. George Santos, the Republican congressman arrested on 13 federal criminal charges connected to accusations that he misled donors and misrepresented his finances to the public and to government agencies. Santos, who represents New York’s 3rd Congressional District, which covers parts of Queens and Long Island, also falsely claimed to be Jewish, and spread a series of other falsehoods about his background.

Anna Kaplan, an Iranian-American is a former Democratic state senator who has long championed Holocaust education. Josh Lafazan is a Nassau County legislator. Zak Malamed is the founder of a Democratic fundraising group. Also running for the seat are Democratic attorney Will Murphy, and Republican Kellen Curry, a former J.P. Morgan executive.

Santos appeared in court on May 10, pleaded not guilty, and was released on $500,000 bail. His next court appearance is June 30.

Abby Meyers, a Maccabiah Games gold medalist and former University of Maryland basketball star, was selected 11^th overall by the Dallas Wings in the first round of the 2023 WNBA draft.

Meyers, who was active in Jewish life on campus, helped her squad make the Elite 8 at this year’s NCAA tournament. She averaged 14.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game during the regular season.

Go Abby!

Evan Gershkovich, an American journalist and reporter covering Russia for The Wall Street Journal, was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service in March on charges of espionage. The arrest marks the first time an American journalist has been detained since the Cold War.

Experts have speculated that the motivation behind the order for Gershkovich’s arrest was an anticipated prisoner exchange for one or more high-profile Russians imprisoned in other countries.

Gershkovich’s parents, Ella and Mikhail Gershkovich, separately fled the Soviet Union during a period of mass emigration in the wake of rumors that Jews were about to be exiled in Siberia. They came to the United States in 1979 and eventually settled in Detroit, where they met. The couple moved to Princeton, NJ, where Gershkovich and his sister grew up, speaking Russian at home.

When arrested, he was working in Yekaterinburg, covering a Russian military organization.

Shul member Tom Byrne makes the “Jews in the News” column this month, landing the role of Mr./Billy Webster in the North Fork Community Theatre production of “Sunday in the Park With George,” the 1984 Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine musical that was inspired by Georges Seurat’s painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.” The play won a Pulitzer Prize and was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Performances May 18 through June 4. Tickets: www.nfct.com