FELLOWSHIPS
Even as the Reform Movement leverages its size to maximize its impact, we know the difference one person can make in the world. Therefore, the URJ offers a variety of transformative fellowships that build trust, teach skills, and nurture individuals’ talents – all of which enrich and strengthen the Reform Movement.
Religious Action Center Fellowships
In 2017, the Rabbi Balfour Brickner Clergy Fellowship brought a record number of clergy to Washington, DC, to train in organizing principles in cooperation with JOIN for Justice, the Jewish community organizing non-profit organization.
In addition, three new youth fellowships were launched in 2017: the RAC Justice Fellowship, which offers college-age students an opportunity to develop young Reform Movement leadership on their college campuses and beyond; the Burstein Fellowship for college students and young professionals to help build and develop the high school-based L’Taken Social Justice Seminar; and the Social Action Leaders Fellowship, a year-long fellowship for NFTY social action vice presidents.
Photo: Brickner Clergy Fellows - 2017 Class
Photo: Brickner Clergy Fellows in Learning Session
Roswell Klal Yisrael Fellowship
The URJ’s Roswell Klal Yisrael Fellowship is unique among young adult fellowships. In collaboration with the World Union for Progressive Judaism and the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, the Klal Yisrael Fellowship was established by a generous grant from Betty and Arthur Roswell, together with matching funds from the URJ, to cultivate Reform young adults as agents of change around the world. The nine-month fellowship requires travel and active participation in three intensive, seven-day seminars focused on learning and leadership skill-building in Israel, Europe, and the U.S. Each Fellow develops an innovative project to enhance the progressive Jewish community.
Learn more about two standout projects of the 2017 Roswell Klal Yisrael Fellows by exploring blog posts about enhancing Israel engagement at Camp Harlam and reimagining the mikvah for progressive Jews.
Roswell Lech Lecha Fellowship
Also generously supported by Arthur and Betty Roswell, the Roswell Lech Lecha Fellowship brings Israeli young adults to Reform congregations in North America to serve as shlichim (emissaries) in partnership with the Jewish Agency for Israel. These shlichim provide dynamic Israel programming, build bridges to Israel, and forge deep personal connections with the young people and families with whom they work. In 2017, Lech Lecha Fellows reached more than 5,000 campers during the summer, and 10,000 youth and families in congregations and NFTY during the year.
JewV’Nation Fellowship
The Reform Movement, which has long prioritized inclusion, is committed to welcoming and empowering new voices to become part of the Reform tradition and embrace its core values. To that end, the JewV’Nation Fellowship was launched in 2017. During its inaugural year, this nine-month fellowship supported 10 dynamic, emerging leaders as they developed innovative Jewish outreach initiatives focused on community, interfaith families, and intersectionality. Funded by the Genesis Philanthropy Group-Jewish Funders Network Matching Grants program and a generous donor, the projects of JewV’Nation Fellows impacted more than 1,000 individuals in 2017.
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"How are you Jewish?” is a question Rivka Campbell, a Canadian Jew of Jamaican descent and synagogue administrator at City Shul, a URJ congregation in Toronto, is often asked. One way she answers that is as a JewV’Nation Fellow, an initiative that offered her an opportunity to create a documentary about Jewish diversity.
“The JewV’Nation Fellowship allowed me to take a seed of an idea and grow it into a project to reach people throughout North America, creating a stronger connection to the URJ community that I will now build on -- and especially in Canada, where I live and work.”
— Rivka Campbell
2017 JewV’Nation Fellow
