News Highlights Hebrew College Alumna Allison Cook Receives 2023 Covenant Award

“Allison teaches that ‘how we learn is what we learn,’ and that we should not falsely separate intellectual learning from social-emotional, ethical, and spiritual learning.”

— Rabbi Laurie Hahn Tapper, associate dean for religious and spiritual life at Stanford University, who nominated Cook for the award

Allison Cook, Jewish educator and Hebrew College MAJS alumna, was among three recipients of the prestigious 2023 Covenant Award. Cook is the founder and co-director of the Pedagogy of Partnership, an initiative affiliated with Hadar, which is run out of Cambridge, MA. Drawing on the concept of the hevruta (study partner), the partnership works with educators and students to teach them how to learn more effectively through the dynamic of studying with another person.

The Covenant Award honors “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 recipients, who must be nominated by someone familiar with their work, are typically mid-career educators. In addition to Cook, the annual prize was awarded to Rabbi Tamara R. Cohen, and Nicole Nash.