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Awards

At Maharat, we celebrate leadership at all life stages. The Emerging Scholars Award honors high school senior women who demonstrate deep learning and leadership.

Emerging Scholars Award

Award Description

The Emerging Scholars award is a $2500 scholarship for high school senior women who plan to spend a gap year studying in Israel. The award celebrates women who have demonstrated a personal commitment to leadership, spirituality, and Torah learning. It acknowledges these young women for their accomplishments and dedication, and it supports their continued growth as learners and leaders. 

How to Apply

High school seniors must be nominated for the award by a Jewish professional, spiritual leader, or educator. Following nomination, students will be sent a link to an application. Applications are  closed for the 2026-2027 year.

2026-2027 Awardees

Miriam Farkas

Miriam is a scholar with a passion for deep gemara learning from Cleveland, Ohio. Her favorite thing about learning is the rewarding feeling of breaking her teeth through a sugya with a formidable and fun chevruta. She cannot wait to continue that during her year in seminary, where she hopes she can find more to challenge herself with. She is planning to attend YU Honors after her gap year.

Hila Loeser

Hila (Recipient of the Ian J. Kagedan z”l Emerging Scholars Award) is from Riverdale NY, attends SAR High School, and is deeply involved in both her school and shul community. Hila finds meaning in bringing different groups of people together, whether it be serving as the gabbait for her shul’s hashkama minyan, running a STEM camp, tutoring anything from gemara to math, or calling and checking in with homebound members of her community. She loves applying from ancient Jewish texts to modern day times, feeling connected to her lineage through gemara, or connected to our nation's history through Tanakh. She looks forward to spending time in Israel connecting with the land and culture, going deeper and broader in her text skills, and strengthening her relationship to her Judaism. After her gap year she plans to attend Johns Hopkins University.

Raizel Mahgel-Friedman

Raizel is from Berkeley California. She loves singing niggunim with her friends on Shabbat, learning chasidut with her family, and playing basketball. She has enjoyed being part of the Einayich Yonim Fellowship where she was able to integrate Jewish values with her love for nature. She looks forward to expanding her Torah knowledge and continuing in her spiritual journey at Migdal Oz. Following her gap year, she plans to attend Brandeis University and study to become a pediatric physical therapist.

Past Emerging Scholars Awardees

2025: Lia Goldberger, Aliza Lesser, Aliza Shyovitz
2024: Eliana Fromer, Charlotte Moreen, Amit Zohar
2023: Miriam Goldberger, Netta Haas, Charlotte Naar, Tamar Rosenfeld
2022: Rina Rogers, Eliana Menashe, Reyna Perelis
2021: Tiferet Grossman, Rivka Krause, Cara Lopatin
2020: Miriam Fisch, Noam Goldberg-Kellman, Elitsa Sklar
2019: Gabrielle Buch, Yonit Krebs, Clara Sandler