ALBANY, New York (Press Release)–Applications are now being accepted for the 29th year of the Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel (BYFI) . The Bronfman Fellowships selects 26 outstanding North American teenagers for a rigorous academic year of seminars including a free, five-week trip to Israel between the summer of Fellows’ junior and senior years of high school. The program is intended to educate and inspire exceptional young Jews from diverse backgrounds to grow into leaders grounded in their Jewish identity and committed to social change. The program was founded and is funded by Edgar M. Bronfman, z”l, formerly CEO of the Seagram Company Ltd. and a visionary Jewish philanthropist.
During the program’s seminars, Fellows meet with leading intellectuals, religious and political leaders, and educators, such Etgar Keret, A.B Yehoshua, Sayed Kashua, and Rabbah Tamar Applebaum. The Fellows then participate in study and dialogue with BYFI’s diverse faculty, which is made up of Rabbis and educators, associated with different movements and perspectives within Judaism. Faculty members have an intimate knowledge of Judaism in North America and Israel and have extensive experience working with emerging adults. Fellows also spend two weeks with a group of Israeli peers who have been chosen through a parallel selection process as part of the Israeli Youth Fellowship: Amitei Bronfman. Upon returning home from the summer in Israel, Bronfman Fellows are asked to devise and lead local Jewish or social action projects.
“Edgar Bronfman placed enormous faith in young people’s ability to see the world not just as it is, but as it ought to be,” said Rabbi Mishael Zion, co-director of the Fellowships. “He believed that young people energized by their Judaism were best equipped to both shape a Jewish ‘Renaissance’ and improve the world. The Fellows each year are already a remarkable group; we have the privilege of instilling in them a love for learning Jewish texts and a commitment to pluralism and communal responsibility that will serve us all into the future.”
Applications for the 2015 Fellowship are available online at www.bronfman.org and must be submitted online by January 6, 2015. A recruitment video may be accessed at bronfman.org/become. High school students in the United States and Canada who self-identify as Jewish and who will be in the twelfth grade in the fall of 2015 are eligible to apply. BYFI is a pluralistic program for Jews of all backgrounds; prior Jewish education is not required. Students are chosen not on the basis of financial need but on merit alone.
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Preceding provided by Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel