On October 29, 2018, a festive graduation ceremony celebrated the conclusion of studies of the fellows of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership, the Mandel IDF Educational Leadership Program, and three programs of the Mandel Leadership Institute: The Mandel Programs for Leadership Development in the Haredi Community, the Mandel Youth Leadership Program, and the Mandel Program for Leadership in Jewish Culture.
The graduation was attended by
Mr. Morton Mandel, chairman and CEO of the Mandel Foundation;
Professor Jehuda Reinharz, president of the Mandel Foundation;
Mr. Stephen Hoffman, vice chairman of the Mandel Foundation;
Mr. Moshe Vigdor, director general of the Mandel Foundation–Israel;
Mr. Shmuel Abuav, director general of Israel's Ministry of Education; and
Colonel Keren Kamrinsky, commander of the IDF Youth and Education Corps’ Magen Division.
“The Mandel Foundation has left its mark on a broad range of segments of Israeli society,” said
Shmuel Abuav, director general of the Education Ministry. “I would like to congratulate the graduates of Cohort 25, each of you in your own professional areas of interest. I hope that every one of you will be able to use your inner talents, together with what you have learned during the program, to each leave your own mark.”
The 21 graduates of Cohort 25 of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership, which was founded in 1991 as a collaboration between the Mandel Foundation and the Ministry of Education, completed two years of studies in which they explored the central issues facing Israel today in the realms of education, society, and leadership.
Irit Sarig, a graduate of Cohort 25 of the Mandel School, spoke on behalf of all the graduates. “Early in the first year of the program, Mr. Mandel came to Israel," she said. "I thanked him for my acceptance to the program and for the great opportunity he had given me. He responded: ‘Thank me by doing good work.’ Dear Mort, throughout the two years of the program and through today, I have carried your words with me and I try to thank you in the way you requested. Thank you for your response and for the great responsibility that you have given me and the entire cohort for the betterment of Israeli society.”
Also graduating were the 20 fellows of Cohort 12 of the Mandel IDF Educational Leadership Program, a group of senior officers from all corps of the IDF. “The partnership between the Mandel Leadership Institute and the IDF is based on strong moral foundations and on the development of a program that serves IDF commanders,” said
Colonel Keren Kamrinsky. “At its heart is the belief in the great importance of cultivating commanders who are leaders, with a strong educational and social approach, as part of efforts to make the IDF stronger and more resilient.”
Held at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, the ceremony also marked the graduation of 17 fellows of Cohort 4 of the Mandel Programs for Leadership Development in the Haredi Community, 15 fellows of the first cohort of the Mandel Program for Leadership in Jewish Culture, and 24 fellows of Cohort 3 of the Mandel Youth Leadership Program, which is designed for senior leaders of Israel’s various youth movements.
"Through the years, we have invested in a number of different organizations," said
Mr. Morton Mandel, chairman and CEO of the Mandel Foundation. "The investment we have made in the Mandel program in Israel, I feel, is the investment that has given us the highest return of any investment that we have made."
