Passover has many names: the Festival of Matzot, the Festival of Freedom, and
the Festival of Spring. "The Festival of Spring" testifies to
Passover's agricultural significant: it takes place in the spring, when the
first harvest is just getting under way, and thus celebrates renewal and new
beginnings.
The Mandel Leadership Institute is also at a juncture of renewal and new beginnings. We have just admitted new fellows to the next cohorts of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership and of the Mandel Scholars in Education program for the coming academic year. The first cohort of the Women of Valor program, which trains women for social and educational leadership roles in the Haredi community, has completed its studies. We are now planning for the next groups. The IDF Educational Leadership Development program is about to launch a comprehensive program about Ethiopian-Israeli soldiers in the IDF.
There is also a new roundtable of Mandel graduates led by Dr. Daniel Marom, the academic director of the Mandel Leadership Institute.
Passover is also called the "Festival of Freedom", a name associated with the festival's historic and national significance – the exodus from Egypt. The meaning of freedom in Israeli life comes up in various aspects of the public discourse and in the materials taught in schools.
This morning, the twentieth cohort of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership completed "Identity and Education", a course that, among other things, addresses the tension between freedom and boundaries in identity formation, on three levels:
1. Refining concepts and exposure to various notions of identity;
2. Discussing the practical implications of these notions;
3. Clarifying the participants' educational identity.
As part of the third level, the fellows produced and developed various products for an exhibition entitled "Identity and Education", which will be on display for the next several weeks in the foyer of the Mandel Leadership Institute.
In class this morning, in the Identity and Education course, we read several texts that deal with the links between identity and freedom. I would like to paraphrase a line from one of them, "Thick and Thin", by Michael Walzer:
"My multifaceted self (attacked on all sides) needs a multifaceted society in order to express my various abilities and skills, my diverse notions of who I am."
The Mandel Leadership Institute is also at a juncture of renewal and new beginnings. We have just admitted new fellows to the next cohorts of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership and of the Mandel Scholars in Education program for the coming academic year. The first cohort of the Women of Valor program, which trains women for social and educational leadership roles in the Haredi community, has completed its studies. We are now planning for the next groups. The IDF Educational Leadership Development program is about to launch a comprehensive program about Ethiopian-Israeli soldiers in the IDF.
There is also a new roundtable of Mandel graduates led by Dr. Daniel Marom, the academic director of the Mandel Leadership Institute.
Passover is also called the "Festival of Freedom", a name associated with the festival's historic and national significance – the exodus from Egypt. The meaning of freedom in Israeli life comes up in various aspects of the public discourse and in the materials taught in schools.
This morning, the twentieth cohort of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership completed "Identity and Education", a course that, among other things, addresses the tension between freedom and boundaries in identity formation, on three levels:
1. Refining concepts and exposure to various notions of identity;
2. Discussing the practical implications of these notions;
3. Clarifying the participants' educational identity.
As part of the third level, the fellows produced and developed various products for an exhibition entitled "Identity and Education", which will be on display for the next several weeks in the foyer of the Mandel Leadership Institute.
In class this morning, in the Identity and Education course, we read several texts that deal with the links between identity and freedom. I would like to paraphrase a line from one of them, "Thick and Thin", by Michael Walzer:
"My multifaceted self (attacked on all sides) needs a multifaceted society in order to express my various abilities and skills, my diverse notions of who I am."
I believe that the Mandel
Leadership Institute aspires to be, and indeed to a large extent is, a
multifaceted society of this kind – a micro-society that strives to embody the
values that we would like to see realized in society as a whole.
When we recited the Shehehiyanu blessing – "Who has
given us life and sustained us and brought us to this time," I believe that we
should keep all of this in mind as well.
I close with another passage that expresses the tension between freedom and boundaries in identity formation, this time from the rock singer Bruce Springsteen – but whoever wants to can quote it at the Seder – in another identity game – in the name of Rabbi Baruch Shpringstein:
Bruce Springstein, SXSW Keynote, March 15, 2012, Austin, Texas:
So rumble, young musicians, rumble! Open up your ears and open your hearts. Don't take yourselves too seriously. And take yourself as seriously as death itself. Don't worry. Worry your ass off. Have iron-clad confidence. But doubt. It keeps you awake and alert. It keeps you honest. Be able to keep two completely contradictory ideas alive and well inside of your heart and your head at all times. If it doesn't drive you crazy, it will make you strong.Excerpts from remarks by Dr. Eli Gottlieb at the 2012 pre-Passover toast at the Mandel Leadership Institute