Hillel International’s Ezra Fellowship Expands to Enhance Jewish Education on College Campuses
WASHINGTON – In an ongoing effort to recruit and train young Jewish professionals on campus and help students explore their Jewish identities, Hillel International will expand its Ezra Fellowship to bring 15 new fellows to campuses across the country this fall. Ezra Fellows are young professionals with a passion for Jewish education who, through the full-time, paid fellowship, receive up to three years of training in pluralistic Jewish education, including seminars in experiential Jewish education and professional career coaching.
While working as Hillel professionals on campus, Ezra Fellows learn to infuse their Jewish knowledge into day-to-day programs and interactions, including informal conversations with students, organizing weekly Shabbat dinners or launching new educational and outreach programs.
Members of the 2016-17 Ezra Fellows cohort learn together at Hillel Institute 2016.
“Ezra Fellows bring Judaism off the page and into the everyday life of their campus communities. They learn innovative ways to bring students to a new appreciation of what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century, and show them why their Jewishness is something to celebrate,” said Laura Yares, Director of Educational Research and Innovation at Hillel International. “The fellows are able to engage with students through Jewish teachings, and increase the level of Jewish education at the campus Hillels where they work, creating the foundation for a lifetime of Jewish leadership.”
The Ezra Fellowship is supported in part by the Maimonides Fund.
Campus Hillels hosting the new class of Fellows include:
- Baruch College
- Beach Hillel (Long Beach, Ca.)
- Cornell University
- Greater Portland Hillel
- Metro Chicago Hillel
- Penn State University
- Tulane University
- University at Buffalo
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of California, Santa Cruz
- University of Maryland
- University of Miami
- University of Missouri, Columbia
- University of Virginia
- Washington University in St. Louis
The 2016-17 Ezra Fellows received training at Hillel Institute 2016.
The Ezra Fellowship is a launch pad for young professionals to initiate careers as Jewish educators, professionals or community leaders. Ezra Fellow alumni pursue graduate programs in Jewish education, work in other Jewish community organizations, and continue their professional growth within the Hillel movement.
For more information about the Ezra Fellowship, visit hillel.org/fellowships.