Two Dickinson Alumnae Named 2026 Pomegranate Prize Recipients
Jessica Herrmann on a visit to the Asbell Center for Jewish Life.
Jessica Herrmann ’16 and Rabbi Lauren Tuchman ’08 recognized as emerging leaders in Jewish education
Two Dickinson alumni are among just 10 recipients of the Covenant Foundation’s 2026 Pomegranate Prize, which recognizes emerging leaders in Jewish education and provides resources and connections to help expand their impact.
Jessica Herrmann ’16 and Rabbi Lauren Tuchman ’08 were named to this year’s cohort, meaning Dickinson alumni account for one-fifth of the 2026 honorees.
Small but mighty
“I’m so thrilled that 20% of the Pomegranate winners are Dickinson alums,” Herrmann says. “As we often say about Jewish life at Dickinson, we are small but mighty!”
Herrmann is director of field activation at Repair the World, where she helps build the Jewish Service Movement and develops programs connecting Jewish identity, learning and service. A history major at Dickinson, she was deeply involved in Jewish life on campus and served as president of Hillel. She remains connected to Dickinson as a member of the Asbell Center for Jewish Life Advisory Board.
“My involvement with the Asbell Center for Jewish Life played a major role in shaping my career as a Jewish experiential educator,” Herrmann says. “I learned how to listen to what my peers were interested in and find creative ways to connect those interests to Judaism.”
She says Dickinson’s multidisciplinary approach also helped cultivate “a deep passion for service” that continues to guide her work creating values-based learning experiences and building community.
Milestone moment
Tuchman is a Washington, D.C.-based rabbi, speaker and Jewish educator whose work focuses in part on disability access and inclusion, Jewish spirituality and mindfulness. She earned her rabbinic ordination and master’s degree in Judaic studies from the Jewish Theological Seminary.
“As a recipient of the Pomegranate Prize, it feels like a milestone moment in my career to date,” Tuchman says. “I'm humbled and honored to be amongst such an incredibly accomplished cohort and even more delighted to be one of two alumnae so awarded.”
She also says Dickinson provided both an academic foundation and relationships that have lasted well beyond graduation.
“I majored in religion at Dickinson, and this laid the foundation for the graduate degree and rabbinic ordination I later went on to receive,” she says. “More importantly, however, were the lasting relationships I made at Dickinson through both the religion department and the Asbell Center for Jewish Life, which have accompanied me to this day.”
The 2026 Pomegranate Prize recipients will be honored at a Covenant Foundation celebration in October.
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Published October 9, 2026