This summer, the Maimonides Scholars Program is hosting 60 high school students from diverse Jewish backgrounds at Yale University for a two-week summer program in which we will undertake the serious study of the great texts of the Jewish and Western traditions.

As we prepare for our program’s inaugural class, we are inviting Jewish high school students (rising seniors and graduating seniors) from public and non-Jewish private schools to submit essays to our scholarship contest, making them eligible to win thousands of dollars in scholarship prizes as well as early admission to the program itself. At the Maimonides Scholars Program, we believe that the chance to wrestle with fundamental questions and big ideas is a fantastic opportunity, both because it is good in itself, and because we believe it can help shape future Jewish leaders and citizens. In that spirit, the essay prompt asks students, “What does it mean to be both an American and a Jew? How do these two identities inform each other? How do they complement each other—and how are they in tension?”

The application deadline is Monday, January 22, 2018, and you can read more about the essay here.