On September 23, 2019, a joint graduation ceremony was held in Jerusalem to mark the completion of studies of all the Mandel programs throughout Israel. The ceremony was attended by
Professor Jehuda Reinharz, president of the Mandel Foundation;
Steve Hoffman, vice chairman of the Foundation; Moshe Vigdor, director general of the Mandel Foundation–Israel;
Brigadier General Zvika Faireisen, the IDF Chief Education and Youth Officer; and
Dr. Miri Schlissel, the chair of the Ministry of Education Pedagogical Secretariat.
“Today, you join the ranks of our graduates, and we will continue to look upon you as part of our family for years to come, and try to help you continue in your learning path,” said Steve Hoffman, vice chairman of the Mandel Foundation, addressing the graduates. "We are really eager to watch your accomplishments and the changes you are going to make. You're going to give us a lot of 'naches,' and we thank you for that in advance."
“I came to the Mandel School for Educational Leadership because I knew that we need to make a joint educational human effort in order to bring about real change," said
Gili Leibushor, graduate of Cohort 26 of the Mandel School for Education Leadership, speaking on behalf of the graduates. "Thus, we all share the responsibility and commitment, as Mandel graduates, of taking our ideas and making them a reality, in order to have a positive influence on Israeli education and society,” she said.
Dr. Miri Schlissel, a graduate of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership and chair of the Ministry of Education Pedagogical Secretariat, extended her wishes that the new graduates take all that they learned at Mandel with them into the future. “May you never forget the great ideas that fill you with passion; may you never forget the great goals you have set yourselves; and may you always continue leading toward a better education system, a better State of Israel, and a better and more just society for all of us,” she said.
“The Mandel IDF Educational Leadership Program is founded on the belief in the tremendous importance of investing in developing commanders with an educational orientation, as a way of strengthening the IDF,” said the IDF Chief Education and Youth Officer,
Brigadier General Zvika Faireisen. He gave personal thanks to Mr. Mandel: “I wish to thank you from the bottom of my heart, on behalf of the Israel Defense Forces and on behalf of Cohort 13 of the Mandel IDF Educational Leadership Program.”
Held at the Jerusalem Theatre, the ceremony was the first time that the graduates of all Mandel programs around Israel celebrated the completion of their studies in a single, shared event. The programs marking their graduation included: the Mandel School for Educational Leadership; three programs of the Mandel Leadership Institute (the Mandel Program for Leadership Development in the Haredi Community, the Mandel Youth Leadership Program, and the Mandel Program for Leadership in Jewish Culture); two programs of the Mandel Center for Leadership in the Negev (the Mandel Program for Regional Leadership in Eilat–Eilot, and the Mandel Program for Cultural Leadership in the Negev), two programs of the Mandel Center for Leadership in the North (the Mandel Program for Social Leadership and the Mandel Program for Regional Leadership in the North), and the Mandel IDF Educational Leadership Program.
