WASHINGTON — Solidifying a new tradition at this year’s Jewish Federations of North America annual General Assembly, Winnie Sandler Grinspoon, the president of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation presented the Grinspoon Amber Awards to honor leaders in the Jewish community strengthening Jewish life.

The presentation took place during Tuesday’s plenary and the awardees include Adina Frydman, the CEO of Young Judaea Global; Avi Posen, vice president of ConnectEd and OpenDor Media; Rabbi David Rosenn, president and CEO of the Hebrew Free Loan Society; Rabbi Charlie Schwartz, founding director of Lehrhaus; and Nico Slobinsky, vice president of the Pacific Region at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

The awards were launched in November 2024, with the first class honored at last year’s GA. Each award recipient receives a $10,000 prize and chooses two other Jewish leaders who receive peer recognition grants of $2,500. The goal is to create a ripple effect, Sandler Grinspoon told eJewishPhilanthropy.

“More people’s work gets recognized,” Sandler Grinspoon said. “Not only the people, but their work gets recognized, which we think is a wonderful benefit here. And there are so many Jewish organizations and so much great work happening. Having more people lift up more people means that we get to touch and experience more of the Jewish community through one award.”

The goal Sandler Grinspoon said, is to be able to introduce attendees to important work and leaders. “The purpose of the award is to find people who are doing interesting things… [work] that this independent committee of voters looks at and says, ‘Wow, they are they are sharing Jewish values, leading with integrity,’” she said. “These are people who are seeing around the corner, building for tomorrow, doing something that is impacting the lives of lots of people. And these are people who can be working in any field and have chosen to devote their talents to the Jewish community.”

The award is “an amazing, amazing acknowledgement” of the work of the whole Lehrhaus team, Schwartz, who co-founded the kosher restaurant, bar and beit midrash alongside author Joshua Foer in 2023, told eJP. It recognizes “the hard work that our team does every night in service and teaching and reaching folks across the Jewish spectrum, whether they’re kosher keepers or people who are barely engaged in Jewish life and just coming in for an amazing drink and Jewish experience.”

During the awards ceremony, Sandler Grinspoon announced to the crowd that Lehrhaus would be opening a second location in Washington just north of Logan’s Circle.

Receiving the award is an honor, Rosenn, who also founded Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps and served as executive vice president of the the New Israel Fund before joining the Hebrew Free Loan Society in 2015, told eJP. “I feel like it’s an incredible privilege to serve the Jewish community and the world through the work that I’m doing, it is it’s its own reward, and at the same time, it’s very nice to be recognized for the work that you’re doing,” Rosenn said.

Under his leadership, the New York-based nonprofit increased its interest-free lending from $8.5 million to nearly $40 million. The past few years has seen the U.S. government slash social services leading to increased need, but the organization continues to have a 99% repayment rate.

The Hebrew Free Loan Society provides interest free loans to non-Jews as well, but also has a large audience of Russian immigrant Jews, Haredi Jews, Bukharian Jews, Syrian Jews and Upper-West side Jews who “worship at Zabar’s,” Rosenn quipped.

Interst-free loans are mentioned numerous times in the Torah, Rosenn said, referring to gemilut chasadim, which is also often translated to “bestowing of loving-kindness.”

“I went to rabbinical school because I wanted to work in organizations that would help the Jewish community translate our ideals and our values into action,” Rosenn said. “I never intended to be a congregational rabbi or a teacher in a school. I really wanted to do what I’m doing now, which is work in nonprofit organizations that help people do mitzvot.”

Frydman, who led Young Judea through the Covid-19 pandemic, told eJP that she loves having the opportunity to pay it forward to other leaders. “The two people that I nominated are people that are not in the limelight,” she said. “Their jobs are not super visible, but they have been working in this field for decades, and they’ve impacted hundreds of people.” Possibly thousands, she said.

A lot of the time it’s only the CEO’s who get the spotlight, Frydman said, acknowledging that the Amber Awards recipients are all heads of agencies. “The top people [are] the most visible, but there are many, many other people who have been in middle management or who have just been doing this work for a really long time. They’ve devoted their careers.”

Posen, who moved to Memphis two years ago, is paying it forward to two heads of local day schools. “I’m investing in my current local community,” he told eJP. “Jewish education has always been my thing and always will be my thing.” Open Door Media, formerly Jerusalem U, has expanded into podcasts, YouTube educational videos and social media contest as well as offering curriculum to over 600 schools and institutions outside the Jewish space.

“My father-in-law Harold Grinspoon has long believed that a strong and vibrant Jewish future depends on talented and inspired professionals,” Sandler Grinspoon said during the award ceremony. “He created the Grinspoon Amber Awards to celebrate people with the imagination to see what’s possible and the dedication to make it happen.”