Over the last two weeks the IDF, along with Beit Morasha, the center for Advanced Judaic Studies and Leadership, conducted a unique workshop for senior officers about to leave their uniforms behind and retire from the forces. The workshop, the first ever of its kind, was intended to prepare former IDF officers for non-military leadership roles within Israeli society as well as teach them how to apply the skills they acquired while serving. Participants of the workshop, dubbed "Hope," included senior brigadier-generals and colonels, both male and female, who all had significant roles in IDF military actions. The eight-day workshop was held at Beit Morasha's campus in Jerusalem. Lecturers included Brig. Gen. Eli Shermeister, Chief Education Officer of the IDF; Gen. Yitzhak "Jerry" Gershon, Homefront Commander during the Second Lebanon War; Air Force Gen. Eliezer Shkedi; MK Nitzan Horowitz; MK Chaim Amsellem and Beit Morasha's own Professor Benny Ish-Shalom. The lectures sought to deepen the officers' understanding of Israeli society and of the core issues affecting it. Topics included polarization of the nation, the secular-religious divide, Jewish-Arab relations and the fabric of the Jewish people as a whole. "This is the most encompassing program that I have encountered throughout my service in the IDF," said one senior officer who participated. "It is my hope that the officers will take what they have learned here and contribute back to the pubic sector, especially so in the educational and civil sectors." The officer continued, "There is a chance to make a difference anywhere one might be. Those who end up running a school will have received the tools to do so, and do it well, right here. Those who end up running a private organization will have, through this program, learned how to properly convey values and principals to their employees. I hope that everyone who took part in this workshop will get out there and really do something with what they learned. To really delve into a project, you need the proper knowledge -- you can't make decisions without it. The depths of a tree's roots are more important than its height." In light of the workshop's success, the IDF will conduct additional sessions, aiming to present two to three cycles, with roughly 60 graduates, annually. There is also a possibility that upcoming workshops be opened to senior officers not yet retired from the IDF. The program is funded by the "Hope Foundation" and the U.S.-based nonprofit "Friends of the Israel Defense Forces" (FIDF). The program takes place within the framework of Beit Morasha's International Academy for Jewish leadership in Jerusalem.
