Niva Cohen of Philadelphia, an 11th-grade student at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy, was named one of 26 Bronfman Fellows.
Cohen’s fellowship starts with a summer in Israel to explore Jewish texts and ideas in conversation with one another and a faculty of rabbis, educators and artists, according to a Bronfman press release. They also will interact with Israeli peers chosen through a parallel selection process as part of the Israeli Fellowship, Amitei Bronfman.
Overall, “the fellowship promotes the study of Jewish texts, traditions, history and culture as a way for fellows to expand their perspectives and engage with one another and the world,” the organization said in the release.
The Bronfman Fellowship was founded in 1987 by Edgar M. Bronfman, former CEO of the
Seagram Co. Ltd. and a Jewish philanthropist. He died in December 2013.
Cohen is president of her school’s Environmental Action Club. Outside of school, she participates in an acting troupe — the Mechanicals — at MacGuffin Theater and Film Co. in Philadelphia.
