Ana Robbins of Atlanta is Honored with the Inaugural Rose Lubin Jewish Pride Award Granted by The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life

NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life announced today that it will honor Ana Robbins, Founder and CEO of the Atlanta, Georgia-based nonprofit organization Jewish Kids Groups (JKG), with its first Rose Lubin Jewish Pride Award.

Robbins started JKG in 2012 to provide camp-style Jewish learning and friendship during the school year to kids in kindergarten through 10th grade. The organization's largest program, JKG Afternoon Community, combines Jewish education with weekday afternoon childcare to meet the needs of modern Jewish families. JKG's Jewish After School Accelerator (JASA) program provides synagogues across the U.S. with tools, guidance, curriculum, and financial support to launch their own Jewish after-school programs.

"Jewish after school provides an additional option to the typical Sunday and Hebrew School model, inspiring families to immerse their children in a Jewish social and programmatic context every day instead of just one or two days a week," said Steinhardt Foundation President Rabbi David Gedzelman. "Now, the kids' primary social group is Jewish so, for them, belonging to the Jewish People becomes part of their core identity, not an occasional experience. This is life-changing for individuals and families and represents a potential cultural shift for American Jews."

The Rose Lubin Jewish Pride Award is named in memory of the Atlanta public school graduate who fulfilled her dream of aliyah as a combat-trained IDF soldier who specialized in fighting terrorism. Deployed with the Israeli Border Police, 20-year-old Sergeant Lubin was off duty on October 7, 2023 when she bravely defended her host kibbutz and neighboring communities, helping injured victims to safety from near the Gaza border during the now infamous terrorist attack. Just weeks after the Hamas onslaught, Sergeant Lubin lost her life during a subsequent terrorist attack in Jerusalem.

"Strengthening Jewish pride and supporting a positive sense of belonging to the Jewish People is of critical importance for the future of this generation. We can think of no one who exemplifies Jewish Pride more than Rose Lubin. Ana Robbins' work in leading Jewish Kids Groups fosters this ideal in a realistic and replicable program that can scale nationally," said Sara Bloom, Vice Chair of The Steinhardt Foundation. 

"I am deeply honored that The Steinhardt Foundation has chosen to recognize me and Jewish Kids Groups with the Rose Lubin Jewish Pride Award," said Robbins. "The funds JKG receives from this award will enable Jewish children across the country to explore their heritage, forge lasting Jewish friendships, build a meaningful relationship with Israel, and ultimately ensure the strength of the Jewish community for generations to come."

Through JKG's Jewish After School Accelerator, 11 U.S. synagogues including congregations in Plano, Texas; Livingston, New Jersey; Cincinnati, Ohio; Brookline, Massachusetts; San Leandro and Oakland, California; and across South Florida, are now running their own Jewish after-school programs. For more information and to apply for future JASA cohorts, please visit jewishafterschools.com. 

The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life was founded in 1994 by Michael H. Steinhardt to strengthen and transform American Jewish life in order to flourish in a fully integrated, free society. Michael Steinhardt co-founded Birthright Israel in response to the erosion of Jewish life in the Diaspora and to introduce young adults to the state, land, and people of Israel. The Steinhardt Foundation has also been a founding funder for OneTable, a project that empowers tens of thousands of young adults to engage each other in Friday night Shabbat dinner, Hebrew Public: Charter Schools for Global Citizens, The School of Hebrew at Middlebury College, as well as The Consortium for the Teaching of Hebrew Language and Culture and The Steinhardt Social Research Institute, both based at Brandeis University.

The Rose Lubin Jewish Pride Award totals $100,000 — a portion of which will be allocated to supporting the work of Jewish Kids Groups — and recognizes an individual whose work exemplifies leadership, innovation, and creativity through an initiative that champions the Pillars of Jewish Pride described in Michael Steinhardt's 2022 book, Jewish Pride. For more information, please visit https://steinhardtfoundation.org.

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SOURCE The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life