Gastonia Jewish Teen Selected for Prestigious Bronfman Fellowship

The Charlotte Jewish News, May 2023

By Rochelle Rickoff Wilensky

Daniel Shames, an 11th grader from McAdenville, North Carolina, and member of Temple Emanuel of Gastonia, was recently selected as a 2023-2024 Bronfman Fellow. The prestigious Bronfman Fellowship grants 26 Jewish high school juniors from around the US and Canada with a free sixweek Israel summer program followed by a year-long US cohort program. Bronfman Fellows routinely hail from large metropolitan areas in the US and Canada; Daniel is the first Bronfman fellow ever selected from rural North Carolina.

The Bronfman Fellowship is a transformative experience for a pluralistic group of intellectually adventurous young people who want to see the world through a lens broader than their own. Inspired by a diverse faculty of rabbis and educators, the Bronfman Fellows explore the rich tapestry of Jewish texts and ideas, using them to spark conversations, engage with stimu- lating existential questions, and achieve a deeper understanding of themselves and one another. They also expand their perspectives through intensive encounters with a parallel group of Israeli peers. The fellowship year includes an all-expenses-paid summer in Israel followed by a year-long program in the US. After the fellowship year, fellows join an extraordinarily active, 1400+ member alumni community. Past Bronfman Fellows have gone on to become Rhodes Scholars, Schwarzman Scholars, Supreme Court clerks, Fulbright Scholars, Wexner Fellows, and Dorot Fellows.

Morah Rochelle Wilensky, religious school director at Temple Emanuel, encouraged all of her 11th grade youth group students to apply for this year’s Fellowship. Daniel took up this challenge with multiple rounds of essays and interviews, while Morah Rochelle wrote a recommendation letter for him. After committing a lot of time and hard work to the process over a period of months, Daniel, his family, and religious school/ temple community were overjoyed to learn that Daniel had been selected as a 2023-2024 Bronfman Fellow.

Morah Rochelle is not surprised that Daniel was selected. Having known Daniel for five years as his teacher and bar mitzvah tutor, Daniel has always shown a keen interest

in Judaism and Jewish history, paired with a strong academic drive. He is interested and comfortable in diverse cultures, viewpoints, and backgrounds including his mother’s Chinese culture and his father’s Jewish faith. Daniel is a true mensch who displays natural leadership skills among his peers with a quiet, calm demeanor. Temple Emanuel is thrilled that Daniel will be able to experience this unique opportunity throughout his senior year of high school.

Mazel Tov Daniel from Morah Rochelle, Temple Emanuel Religious School, and the entire Temple Emanuel community: We are so, so proud of you and wish you a fantastic summer in Israel and fellowship year ahead.

Temple Emanuel and Temple Emanuel Religious School welcome all kinds of Jewish families to its community, with families from Gastonia; McAdenville, Bessemer City; Belmont; Shelby; Lake Wylie/ Clover SC; and more surround- Children and teens of all ages are welcome to our religious school, with older teens active in our youth group. Interfaith and diverse families, and children/teens with no prior religious school education, are ALL welcome!

For more information: Temple Emanuel of Gastoniahttps://tegastonia.urjweb-1.org/ The Bronfman Fellowshiphttps://bronfman.org/

Photo: Daniel Shames