Jewish Center names prize winners

The Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard University recently announced the recipients of the 2008 Norman Podhoretz Prize in Jewish Studies and the Selma and Lewis Weinstein Prize in Jewish Studies.

A senior in Dunster House, Danielle Sassoon won this year’s Norman Podhoretz Prize for her essay “From Consent to Descent: Ludwig Lewisohn’s Anti-Assimilationism as a Product of Historical Change.” The award “is given to the Harvard University student who submits the best essay, feature article, or short story on a Jewish theme.” A tribute to Norman Podhoretz, the editor of Commentary magazine from 1960 to 1995, the prize is sponsored by the Ernest H. Weiner Fund at the American Jewish Committee.

The recipients of this year’s Selma and Lewis Weinstein Prize are Mishy Harman, a senior in Pforzheimer House, and Hillary Berkowitz, a junior in Kirkland House. The title of Harman’s entry is “Theodor Herzl: Aspiring Nobleman, Dreamer, Diplomat.” Berkowitz’s entry is titled “The Problem of Assimilation in The Goldbergs: Creating a Jewish American Identity in the Postwar United States.” Lewis H. Weinstein A.B. ’27, LL.B. ’30 established the Weinstein Prize, which is given to the Harvard student or students who submit the best undergraduate essay in Jewish studies.