This year’s annual Jewish Educator Award (JEA) winners were announced during four surprise assemblies held at the recipients’ respective schools.
The winners of the 2025 JEA — each of whom were gifted a $18,000 cash prize — were Nili Isenberg, a middle school Judaic studies teacher at Pressman Academy in Los Angeles; Jared Stein, director of instrumental music at de Toledo High School in West Hills; Hadassah Weiner, the girls elementary principal at Yeshiva Rav Isacsohn Toras Emes Academy in Los Angeles; and Rabbi Reuven Youkhehpaz, a fifth-grade rebbe for the boy students at Yeshiva Aharon Yaakov/Ohr Eliyahu in Los Angeles.
The JEA is the result of a longstanding partnership between Milken Family Foundation and Builders of Jewish Education (BJE). It recognizes outstanding educators, administrators and other K-12 education professionals in the greater Los Angeles area who work at BJE-affiliated day schools.
The JEA has recognized 157 recipients since its establishment in 1990.
At this year’s surprise ceremonies, Milken Family Foundation Executive Vice President Richard Sandler, joined by BJE Chief Executive Officer Miriam Heller Stern, announced the recipients in front of their colleagues and students.
“I am pleased to congratulate the 2025 Jewish Educator Award recipients, whose talent, dedication and heart have positively impacted their classrooms, schools and communities,” Sandler said. “Developing our community’s future leaders starts with outstanding educators like Nili Isenberg, Jared Stein, Hadassah Weiner and Rabbi Reuven Youkhehpaz. Every day they prepare the future leaders of our community by teaching them Torah so they will know who they are, where they come from and why it matters.”
Upon receiving the award, each recipient spoke of their longstanding commitment to Jewish education. Isenberg emphasized how her utmost wish is to be a role model for her students while Stein — whose work in the community also includes serving as a music educator at American Jewish University’s Brandeis Camp Institute — shared how grateful he was to be part of de Toledo’s vision for the “past, present and future.”
Meanwhile, Weiner—whose “RAISE the Bar” initiative elevates others through acts of compassion and inclusion — said, “I have a very focused passion: that every single student under my care should realize their great potential.”
Youkhehpaz said, “My aspiration is for my students to have the desire to learn. It’s not only about the information or imparting knowledge to them. If they want to learn, grow, and love learning, that is the biggest accomplishment I can make in the classroom.”
This year’s winners will be further acknowledged when community leaders and family members of the 2025 JEA recipients come together for an awards luncheon on Dec. 11. The inclusive event is unique in that it brings together educators across the community, from secular institutions to the most Orthodox.
On Sept. 18, comedy legend Jay Leno headlined “Late Night with Solomon Society,” the Jewish Federation of Orange County’s signature fundraiser, held this year at The Grove of Anaheim.
The event drew more than 300 attendees and grossed nearly $500,000. The funds support JFedOC’s critical work in Orange County, Israel and around the world.
Additional participants included comedian and actor Elon Gold, who served as master of ceremonies. The gathering included a tribute to Julian Mendez, a local philanthropist and entrepreneur who was honored as “Mensch of the Year.”
