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Become a Fellow

The application for the 2024 Fellowship is now closed. To apply for the 2025 Fellowship, you must be in 11th grade in the fall of 2024, be from the U.S. or Canada, and self-identify as Jewish. To apply next year, please add your name to our interest form.

Nominate a teen here. If you are an adult who works with teens and want to be added to our contact list, please fill out this form.

A note about the current situation:

As a program with a deep connection to Israel, we are holding our Israeli community close during this difficult time. People have been asking us what’s next for our recruitment and the 2024 Fellowship Year. We want to assure you that we are committed to holding an in-person Fellowship experience for the 2024 Fellows, starting with an immersive summer and continuing through the following year. Whether this experience will include a trip to Israel will depend on safety and security in the country. The well-being of our Fellows is our highest priority.

Recent events have underscored how vitally important it is that we build a vibrant and diverse Jewish community, develop leadership in the Jewish world and beyond, and help North American and Israeli teens connect deeply with the Jewish experience and with each other. We are so proud to continue doing this work, and central to it is recruiting a talented and diverse group of Fellows for our 2024 cohort.

Like everyone, we hope that calm will soon return, and that our 2024 Fellows will be able to travel to Israel as part of their immersive summer that launches the Fellowship Year. Our robust safety and security policies ensure that Fellows will have the safest possible experience. Of course, the situation is rapidly unfolding, and so we do not fully know what the future will bring. Whether we travel to Israel this summer, or implement an impactful domestic program — as we did during the pandemic in 2021 — we are committed to providing a transformative Fellowship Year experience in which Fellows learn to see the world through a lens broader than their own and are inspired to change the world for the better.

About the Fellowship

The Bronfman Fellowship is an opportunity unlike any other: a space where young people who want to see the world through a lens broader than their own can explore issues with depth, candor, and joy, while forming friendships to last a lifetime. 

Every year, twenty-six intellectually adventurous North American teenagers are selected as Bronfman Fellows. The Fellowship begins with an immersive, all-expenses-paid summer in Israel and the U.S. Fellows wrestle with major issues in contemporary Jewish life, explore the land and people of Israel, meet some of today’s most influential figures, and expand their perspectives as they build community with those representing different backgrounds, worldviews, and approaches to Jewish life and practice. Inspired by a diverse faculty of Rabbis, educators, and artists, the pluralistic group of Fellows have the opportunity to explore a wide range of Jewish texts — from classic religious documents to contemporary Israeli and American voices — as well as art workshops, using them to spark conversations, engage with stimulating existential questions, and achieve a deeper understanding of themselves and one another. 

The Fellowship year continues with monthly virtual experiences and a Winter and Spring seminar in the United States, usually in the Northeast. Fellows continue their association with the Fellowship through our extraordinarily active, 1400+ alumni community

Eligibility and Important Dates

High school students who are in 11th grade in the fall of 2023, who self-identify as Jewish, and who are from the United States or Canada are eligible for the 2024 Fellowship. 

The Fellowship begins the summer after 11th grade and is all-expenses-paid.

Dates for 2024 Fellowship Year:

  • Summer Seminar: June 25 – July 29, 2024
  • Winter Seminar: January 23-28, 2025 (tentative)
  • Spring Seminar: April 6-9, 2025

Application at a Glance

  • Application Opens: mid-August, 2023
  • Virtual Info Sessions: Prospective applicants, parents, and educators are invited to join one of our two virtual info sessions (sign up for whichever one is more convenient). Teens are also welcome to join our Q&A session, a more informal Zoom where they can talk directly to recent Fellows.
  • Application Deadline: December 4, 2023
  • Deadline for receipt of letters of recommendation and transcript: December 6, 2023
  • Keep in mind that your application must include:
    • Two (2) recommendations from individuals who know you well. At least one of these recommendations must be from a teacher. The other can be any non-relative who knows you well (including another school professional, Rabbi, employer, etc.).
    • High school transcript (through at least grade 10). 
  • More questions? Check out our FAQ’s 
  • See a preview of this year’s application (to help prepare your application, but this cannot be submitted. Application must be completed online).