Student Fellowship

Bennett and Robin Greenspan
L’Dor V’Dor Legacy Program

A 10-day journey to Poland for university students to explore their Jewish roots, learn the tools of genealogical research, and help preserve a Jewish cemetery.

L'Dor V'Dor program participants in Poland L'Dor V'Dor program participants in Poland L'Dor V'Dor program participants in Poland L'Dor V'Dor program participants in Poland
Applications for the 2026 program are now closed. The 2026 cohort travels July 7–16. Please check back in fall 2026 for information about the 2027 program. For general inquiries, email LdorVdor@JewishGen.org.

About the Program

JewishGen is pleased to invite applications for our sixth annual Bennett and Robin Greenspan L’Dor V’Dor Legacy Program to take place from July 7 – July 16, 2026. Rising second-year undergraduate students in accredited colleges or universities through recent graduates are invited to apply.

The purpose of this program, run in partnership with Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland, is to inspire and begin the training of the future generation of leaders in Jewish genealogical involvement. We will travel to Poland, and explore basic tools of genealogical research in a country which was once home to more than half of world Jewry, and share and protect the history that gave shape to that genealogy of the past and future.

Download the 2026 program flyer (PDF) ›

How to Apply

Applications for 2026 are closed

The application period closed on March 19, 2026. Information about the 2027 program will be posted in fall 2026. To be notified when applications open, please email LdorVdor@JewishGen.org.

Applications Closed

The Journey

On this 10-day journey, participants will visit and tour many Jewish heritage sites throughout Poland, including Warsaw, spend an inspirational Shabbat in Krakow, visit Majdanek, and ultimately participate in the clean-up and preservation of a Jewish cemetery in partnership with Polish volunteers. During this part of the program, we will focus on the role of Jewish cemeteries today in preserving the memory and legacy of former Jewish communities. Specifically, we will explore symbols and epitaphs on tombstones, the general state of Jewish cemeteries in Poland after the Holocaust, efforts to preserve them from both a communal, political, and Halachic perspective, and consider lessons that can be gleaned to inform our own life choices today.

The trip will be led by highly experienced staff and participants will have an opportunity to learn from rabbis, scholars, dignitaries, and community leaders, who will offer first-hand insights regarding the imperative (and challenges) of cleaning up cemeteries in accordance with Jewish law. They will address how local Polish communities view Jewish cemeteries in their towns, the need to preserve Jewish memory, and more.

In advance of the trip, students will meet with JewishGen genealogists to gain strategies for exploring their roots. During the trip, students will have nightly reflection exercises to discuss and internalize everything they learned during that day. Upon returning home, each participant will be expected to record a video, write a blog post, and write an essay describing their experience.

Faculty

Dr. Paul Radensky

Dr. Paul Radensky

Director of JewishGen

Paul Radensky is the director of JewishGen, the world’s leading resource for Jewish genealogy. He has had a lifelong love of Jewish history and Jewish genealogy. Prior to coming to JewishGen, Paul was in the Education Department of the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Paul completed his Ph.D. on one of the leading figures in Hasidism in Ukraine at the Jewish Theological Seminary and his master’s in history at Columbia University. Paul is the president of the Old Broadway Synagogue in west Harlem. Paul and his wife, Laura, live in Manhattan. They have four children and four grandchildren.

Dr. Dan Oren

Dr. Dan Oren

President & Founder, Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland

Dan A. Oren, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry (adjunct) at Yale University has worked for more than thirty years as a psychiatrist and faculty member at Yale University, as a Fulbright Professor at the University of Rzeszów, Poland, and as a researcher. Oren is author of The Wedding Photo, a book on Jewish genealogy and family history, and has published other books and articles on Jewish history. He has been tracing his genealogy for more than forty years and has co-led this fellowship since 2019. He founded and leads FJHP as a volunteer devoted to helping Jewish descendants partner with Polish organizations to preserve their ancestral cemeteries.

Dr. Steven Reece

Dr. Steven Reece

Founder & CEO, The Matzevah Foundation

Dr. Steven D. Reece is a respected cross-cultural leader, Fulbright Scholar, and Founder/CEO of The Matzevah Foundation. With a Ph.D. in Leadership, he has overseen the restoration of more than 60 Jewish cemeteries and mass grave sites to foster reconciliation between Christians and Jews. As an ordained Baptist minister and a certified Holocaust educator through Yad Vashem and Tel Aviv University, he is committed to public education about the Shoah. Recognized as a “Person of Reconciliation,” he serves as an Adjunct Faculty member at Andrews University, where he draws on his fluency in Polish, leadership experience, and expertise in qualitative research. He is also authoring a book based on his Fulbright findings.

Our Partner

Friends of Jewish Heritage in Poland

FJHP partners with Polish organizations to help Jewish descendants preserve their ancestral cemeteries and Jewish heritage sites throughout Poland.

Visit jewishheritagepoland.org ›