The Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel (BYFI) is now accepting applications for its 27th summer program.  The Bronfman Youth Fellowships sends 26 outstanding North American teenagers to Israel, for five weeks of intellectually engaging summer study during which they experience a shared sense of Jewish community. The program educates and inspires exceptional young Jews from diverse backgrounds to become active participants and leaders in Jewish culture throughout their lives, and to contribute their talents and vision to the Jewish community and to the world at large. 

Traveling throughout Israel, the fellows participate in study and dialogue with our 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 Israel and have extensive experience working with emerging adults.  Fellows meet with some of Israel’s leading intellectuals, religious and political leaders, and educators.  They also spend a week with a group of Israeli peers who have been chosen through a parallel selection process. After the summer, Fellows participate in a winter seminar with the Amitim in Connecticut and a spring seminar in New York.  Bronfman Youth Fellows are asked to devise and lead a Jewish or social action project upon returning home after the summer.

Applications for the 2013 Fellowship are available online at www.bronfman.org and must be submitted online by Jan. 7. High school students in the United States and Canada, who will be in the 12th grade in the fall of 2013 may apply.