The Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel (BYFI) has announced that applications are now being accepted for its 26th summer program.

The Bronfman Youth Fellowships sends 26 outstanding North American teenagers to Israel for five weeks of summer study. 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.  The program was founded and is funded by Edgar M. Bronfman. Fellows travel throughout Israel and participate in study and dialogue with a faculty that is comprised of rabbis and educators from all different movements and perspectives within Judaism. After the summer, Fellows participate in a follow-up seminar in New York and are invited to a winter seminar with the Amitim in Connecticut.  Bronfman Youth Fellows are asked to devise and lead a Jewish or social action project upon returning home after the summer.

Applications for the 2012 Fellowship are available online at www.bronfman.org and must be submitted online by Jan. 20, 2012. High school students in the U.S. and Canada, who will be in the twelfth grade in the fall of 2012 may apply.