Join us at the 2026 Heschel Vision Awards!
Every year the Heschel Vision Awards brings together JUFJ’s community from across our region to connect, celebrate our collective accomplishments, and honor inspiring leaders in our movement. Joyful connection and inspiration help sustain us through times of struggle like these.
This year’s celebration will be on Sunday, October 18 at 5:00 PM at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center at the University of Maryland College Park. Join us as we honor local leaders who follow in the footsteps of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel z”l (1907-1972) and beloved JUFJ leader Elissa Froman z”l (1983-2013) by fusing deep moral commitments with their activism.
2026 Honorees
for her labor justice work for domestic workers and early childhood educators in DC.
for shifting the consciousness of the Baltimore Jewish community and moving them to work for change.
for organizing and cultivating JUFJ volunteers to advance justice in Montgomery County.
for advancing the rights of Black people and defending democracy in Maryland and across the country.
Additional Event Details
Location: Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center at the University of Maryland, College Park (7801 Alumni Dr, College Park, MD 20742) and on Zoom.
Food: Light vegetarian, dairy, and parve refreshments, all kosher style. Vegan and gluten-free options. Hechshered food available upon request.
Dress: Business casual
Accessibility: The program will have live Spanish interpretation. The Zoom program will be captioned. The venue is ADA compliant. For additional accommodations, share your needs below.
Tickets and Sponsorship
Sponsorships and ticket sales power JUFJ’s organizing to advance economic, racial, and social justice in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. They are also an opportunity to celebrate our honorees.
Sponsorship levels begin at $180 and all include 1 or more tickets to the 2026 Heschel Vision Awards, acknowledgement on the JUFJ website, and recognition in the program book. Sponsorship levels at the Supporter level ($360) or higher include ad space in the program book. This is a great opportunity to celebrate the honorees, highlight your business or organization, or share a personal message of support for JUFJ’s organizing — reaching every guest at the event.
Tickets are $118, supporting JUFJ’s work to build community, take action together, and drive meaningful change. If that price is out of reach for you, our community tickets are $54, or please reach out to Sarah at sarah.hiller@jufj.org for a no-cost ticket.
If you are purchasing tickets, use the form below to pay via credit card, direct debit from your bank account, Google Pay, Apply Pay (on iOS devices), Venmo, or Paypal. If you would prefer to pay by check, do not fill out the form; instead mail a check made out to Jews United for Justice to 2027 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC, 20036 and email Sarah to let her know your guest names, accommodation requests, and any other relevant information.
Thank you to our Sponsors
Updated December 5, 2025
Galvanizer
Joe and Karen Sandler
JUFJ Campaign Fund’s Board of Directors
Roberta “Bert” Ritvo
The Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation
Inspirer
Anonymous
Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Greater Washington
JUFJ’s Board of Directors
JUFJ’s Maryland Leadership Council
JUFJ’s Montgomery County Leadership Council
Robert Barkin
Builder
Jo Shifrin and Jethro K. Lieberman
JUFJ’s Baltimore Leadership Council
Michele and Malcolm Russell-Einhorn and Becca and Waseem AbuRakia Einhorn
Nancy and Ed Kutler
Rabbi Jason and Devora Kimelman-Block
Rabbi Jessy Dressin
Sandler Reiff Lamb Rosenstein & Birkenstock, P.C.
Susan Russell
Visionary
Am Kolel Jewish Renewal Community
Anonymous
Benjamin and Sarah Davies
Beverly Hall Spencer and David Spencer
Debbie and Michael Amster
Friends of the Earth
JUFJ’s DC Leadership Council
Julia Doran and Adam Carlis
Kathy L. Krieger and the Krieger-Cohen family
Michelle Sternthal and Zeke Reich
Roger Friedman and Roz Beroza
Ruth Ellen Goodman
Ruth W Messinger, social justice consultant
SEA Change
Partner
Anna Rubin
Congregation Action Network
David M. Friedman
Fred and Robin Rosenberg
Greater Good Strategy
Heather Hurlburt and Dr. Darius Sivin
Jeff Blum
Joanna Silver
Jody and Sheila Harburger
JUFJ’s Virginia Leadership Council
Karen Caplan and David Freund
Les Baltimore
Mark Wolff and Marilyn Kresky-Wolff
Martin Mellett and Judy Walsh Mellett
Michelle and Glenn Engelmann
Rebecca Widiss and Raj Nayak
Steve Metalitz and Kit Gage
The Baltimore Jewish Green & Just Alliance
The Festival Center
Tracie Guy-Decker
Supporter
Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation
Andy Miller and Sandra Dzija
Anita Lampel
Anna Tubiash Levy
Anonymous
Ben DuBois and Scott Sherman
Beth S. Slavet
Bolton Street Synagogue
Carol Stern and Miriam Eisenstein
DC Action
Diane Gardsbane & Paul Sully
Ellen and Paul Lazar
Ira Cure and Elizabeth Orfan
Jeffrey Rubin and Michele Bloch
Jerry Kickenson and Kathleen Michels
Josh and Nicole Mintz
Lisa and Elad Firnberg
Marilyn Park and Rick Ehrmann
Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA)
Patricia Campos-Medina
Peter Winkler and Barbara Kraft
Rabbi Daniel Cotzin Burg on behalf of Beth Am Synagogue
Rabbi Tyler Dratch and Emily Sellman
Robert Molofsky
Sharon Groves
Sue Tafler and Chuck Koplik
The Toth-Champagne Family
Toby Ditz
Victoria Bor and David DuGoff
Wendy Kahn and Marty Burns
Believer
Alexander M. Thompson Jr.
Ann’s friend Roger Blacklow
Anonymous
Baltimore Jewish Cultural Chavurah
Bernie Mower
Bracha and John Laster
Casey Wade and William Hansen
Cindy Paradies and Larry Moscow
Claudia de Colstoun and Roberto Werebe
David Fishman and Mindy Seidlin
Deborah Greenfield
Deedee Jacobsohn
Ed Lazere
Ed Rehfeld
Elise Ringo and Rabbi Amelia Wolf
H Rubinson
Hinenu Baltimore
Ilana and Ben Meiselberg
Jen Cheslock
Jerry Levine and Sarah Pokempner
Joshua Rosenstein and Shayna Bloom
Joslyn (Jos) Williams
Kathleen McKirchy
Kelly Keegan Brown
Lana and Paul Eisenberg
Lauren and Frank Spokane
Leyla Vural
Marci Greenstein
Mark Dudzic and Paula Woletz
May and Rocky Chin
Michael Herz & Kate Josephs
New Synagogue Project
Nikki MG Cole
Norma and Rabbi Donald Berlin
Rebecca Barson
Ricki and Cantor George Henschel
Sam Eskenazi
Thea Lee
Trish Kent
Vicki Spira
Willow J. Lyman
Zaina Tannu
About the Heschel Vision Awards
In 1998, a small group of longtime activists and younger community organizers founded JUFJ after being inspired to action at a class on the teachings of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel z”l. Rabbi Heschel saw the teachings of the Prophets as a call for social action in our time, and he was a prominent leader in the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s.
Many of the hallmarks of JUFJ’s work — commitment to multicultural and interfaith coalitions, and concern for the most vulnerable in our society — are founded on Heschel’s teachings and the movements he helped lead.
For many of us the march from Selma to
Montgomery was both protest and prayer…
Even without words, our march was worship.
I felt my legs were praying.
— Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, 1965
About the Elissa Froman Heschel Vision Award
In 2010, we honored Elissa Froman z”l, a civil rights activist and JUFJ leader, with a Heschel Vision Award. Elissa embodied not only the best of Rabbi Heschel’s teachings, but also the core of JUFJ: building relationships and (sacred) community, and then working collectively to make change. Elissa passed away, far too early, in 2013. We honor her memory, and her passion and commitment to community and justice.
“And what does the Creator require of you but to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your G-d.” — Micah 6:8
“With humor and humility, Elissa did more to heal our fractured world in her short life than most can hope to do in a lifetime. She will forever be missed, but always remembered as our social justice hero.” — Remembrance of Elissa Froman by Joanna Blotner, 2013
Previous Heschel Honorees
Abigail, Emma, and Zoe Levine
Adat Shalom Reconstructionist Congregation
Ana María Archila
Ann Hoffman
Rabbi Arthur Waskow (z”l)
The Bainum Family Foundation
Barbara Kraft
Ben & Beth Wikler
Betsy Krieger & Karen Kreisberg
Rabbi Bob Saks
Bruce and Susie Turnbull
Claire Landers
David (z”l) & Carla (z”l) Cohen
David Fishback
David Krakow
Rabbi David Shneyer
The DC Initiative on Racial Equity and its Coordinating Committee, accepted by co-facilitators Alicia Wilson and Dushaw Hockett
Eli & Kavitha Kasargod-Staub
Elissa Froman (z”l)
Councilmember Elissa Silverman
England Family Foundation
Evan Serpick
George Derek Musgrove
Gustavo Torres
Heather Booth
Ilyse Hogue
Isabel “Liz” Dunst
Representative Jamie Raskin
Councilmember Janeese Lewis George
Jerry Levine & Sarah Pokempner
Jessica Champagne & Max Toth
Senator Jill P. Carter
Jo Shifrin
Joanna Blotner
Joanna Silver
Joe Sandler
Joelle Novey
Jonathan Stern (z”l) & Karen Paul
Joslyn Williams
Attorney General Karl A. Racine
Kesh Ladduwahetty
Laura Menyuk
Margie Klein
Governor Martin O’Malley
Mary Ann Stein (z”l)
Michelle Engelmann
Nicole Berner
Nikki Cole
Public Justice Center
Roberta “Bert” Ritvo
Roxie Herbekian & Ken Zinn
Rubie Coles
Ruth Messinger
Ruti Kadish
Sam Rosen Jewler
SEIU 32BJ
Shelley Moskowitz
Simon Greer
Tara Huffman
Tikkun Olam Women’s Foundation
Toni Holness
Tracie Guy-Decker
UFCW Local 400’s Political & Community Affairs Team, represented by Dyana Forester and Kim Mitchell
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