For over 20 years, the Meorot Fellowship, a joint program of YCT and Yeshivat Maharat, has gathered exceptional college students to learn with distinguished academics, communal leaders, and rabbis.
Meorot helps these students grow into future Jewish spiritual and lay leaders through serious learning and honest discourse, establishing a cross-campus community of powerful student voices.
Monthly virtual sessions include presentations and shiurim followed by group discussions, emphasizing respect and tolerance as the cornerstones for healthy debate. These sessions are kicked off with a fall Shabbaton in New York and supplemented by regular (virtual) chevruta study.
Our topics touch on some of the most pressing issues of our day, including social justice, halakha and gender, and social justice. Popular sessions, given by graduates of YCT and Maharat, include “Gender in Jewish Thought and Law” with Rabbi Jeff Fox ; “Danger and Reasonability: Paskening Halakha for the Climate Crisis” with Rabbi Haggai Resnikoff and “Showing Up and Sitting Down: Centering Impacted Parties in Activist Work” with Maharat Rori Picker Neiss.
Fellows complete a meaningful capstone project that brings their learning back to campus, thus extending the impact of their experiences and may apply for funding through the Meorot Microgrant Program to advance their work on campus or in their communities.
To be considered for the Meorot Fellowship, students must be nominated by their Hillel professional/Jewish communal leader, complete an application, and be invited for a virtual interview. An annual cohort of student leaders is chosen based upon their proven campus leadership and interest in pursuing spiritual and/or lay leadership within the Jewish community. Applications are now closed.
The 2022-2023 sessions take place on Tuesdays, from 7:30-9pm Eastern, on October 25, December 13, January 31, February 21, March 21, April 18, May 16. The kick-off Shabbaton was held on October 28-30, 2022.
For more information, email meorot@yctorah.org.
