(Courtesy of The Bronfman Fellowship) The Bronfman Fellowship is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for the 37th cohort of this transformative program. The Fellowship selects 26 outstanding North American teenagers for a free, intellectually challenging year of programming, beginning with an immersive seminar that includes travel to Israel between the Fellows’ junior and senior years of high school, followed by monthly virtual experiences and two seminars in the U.S. The program educates and inspires exceptional young Jews from diverse backgrounds to have a significant impact on the world as community builders, deep thinkers, moral voices and cultural creators. The nonprofit Fellowship was founded by Edgar M. Bronfman, z”l, formerly CEO of the Seagram Company Ltd. and a visionary Jewish philanthropist.
Applications for the 2023 Fellowship are due December 5, 2022, and are available online at bronfman.org. High school students in the United States and Canada who self-identify as Jewish and who will be in the 11th grade in the fall of 2022 are eligible to apply. The Fellowship is a pluralistic program for Jews of all backgrounds; prior Jewish education is not required.
For 37 years, Bronfman Fellows have built a pluralistic community through a transformative, intellectual and deeply personal journey in which they have the opportunity to see the world through a lens broader than their own. Fellows expand their perspectives as they build community with those representing different backgrounds, worldviews and approaches to Jewish life and practice. In addition to learning with stellar educators, Fellows also have the unique opportunity to engage with leading intellectuals, artists and religious and cultural leaders.
Fellows also interact with a group of Israeli peers who were chosen through a parallel selection process by the Israeli branch of the Fellowship, Amitei Bronfman.
“My father, Edgar M. 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 Adam R. Bronfman, president of The Samuel Bronfman Foundation. “He believed that young people energized by their Judaism were best equipped to both shape a Jewish ‘Renaissance’ and improve the world.”
Alumni of The Bronfman Fellowship are leaders in their community, playing key roles in fields such as social justice, academia, law,and the arts. Of the nearly 1,400 Bronfman Fellowship alumni across North America and Israel, there are eight Rhodes Scholars, four former Supreme Court clerks, 20 Fulbright Scholars, 36 Wexner Fellows and 29 Dorot Fellows. Israeli alumni have also ascended to positions of influence in government, civil groups, the private sector and cultural institutions. Amitei Bronfman alumni include attorneys at the State Justice Department, noted journalists, successful filmmakers (including a Tribeca Film Festival winner), political advisers to Members of Knesset, members of elite IDF units and university lecturers.
