“Within all the chaos that surrounds us, there is a bubble in which a small group of talented students can chase their wildest ideas, ask the most fundamental questions and develop technologies that just yesterday were considered a dream. In recent years, we were sometimes worried that this bubble would burst and the wonder that is the Weizmann Institute would disappear. But you are proof that the wonder still exists.”
With these words, Prof. Gilad Perez, dean of the Feinberg Graduate School, greeted the 384 Weizmann Institute of Science graduates at the 2024 ceremony for the conferment of MSc and PhD degrees. “We know we can count on you to lead us and humanity to a better future. You are our hope!” Perez told the emotional audience who had gathered at the Weizmann campus in Rehovot for a moment of optimism and hope at the end of one of the most difficult years in the history of the country and the institute.
A total of 182 alumnae and 202 alumni received their degrees this week – 159 PhDs and 225 MSc degrees. Notwithstanding the war and the trauma that Israel is still experiencing, among those donning cloaks and throwing mortarboards were 57 international research students – around 15 percent of all graduates and almost double last year’s number.
“Truth and science will win”
The guest of honor at this year’s ceremony was Israeli entrepreneur Eyal Waldman, one of the pillars of Israel’s high-tech industry, the recipient of the 2024 Israel Prize for Entrepreneurship and co-founder of Mellanox, one of the most successful Israeli high-tech companies of all time. Tragically, Waldman’s daughter, Danielle, and her partner, Noam Shai, were among those murdered at the Nova music festival in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Waldman related to these shocking events in his speech at the festive ceremony:
“I’m extremely proud and moved to be standing before you, so many intelligent and talented people, and to deliver this address… My uncle, Giora-Yoel Yashinsky, had nearly completed his master’s degree at the Feinberg Graduate School and was planning to study for a doctorate in chemical physics under the guidance of Profs. Izchak Steinberg and Ephraim Katzir. On July 8, 1971, Giora was sent in a Yasur helicopter on an electronic warfare mission in Egypt; the helicopter crashed into the sea – and Giora never completed his studies. The community of Netiv Ha’asara in the Gaza Envelope was named after Giora and the other nine airmen who died in that crash. Giora’s classmate, Elisha Haas, finished editing his thesis and Giora’s parents – my grandparents – received his degree after his passing.
“Giora was denied an amazing future of research and activity. In his memory, an annual scholarship is awarded every year by the Feinberg Graduate School, as it is this year. As Giora’s family, we are so proud of the growing list of this scholarship’s recipients and their achievements.
“…I cannot end without mentioning the 101 hostages who are still being held by Hamas. Last weekend, six of them returned in coffins. Among them was Almog Sarusi, who was in the car with my daughter Danielle and her partner, Noam, when they fled the Nova music festival. From this podium, I call on everyone – especially the prime minister and the government of Israel – to do everything to ensure the return of the hostages from Gaza.
“As we are sitting here, tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers are fighting… From this stage, I pray with you that they all return safely, that they are all able to attend ceremonies such as this and go on to their brilliant future.”
Weizmann Institute President Prof. Alon Chen also spoke about the distressing events that have unfolded in Israel and shared some of his thoughts from the past year. “We have experienced a very difficult year. In fact, it would be more accurate to say – and I assume that many of you share my feeling – that we are still in the middle of an unbearably tough year. Beyond the shock of the October 7 massacre, we are all still dealing with the tragedy of the hostages in Gaza, with a large number of fallen soldiers and with tens of thousands of people injured physically and emotionally. And that is without mentioning the tens of thousands of people who have been forced from their homes in the south and the north, the boys and girls who carry with them emotional injuries, whose extent is only now becoming apparent; and the long and complex reserve duty that some of you were called for. If all this were not enough, the struggles between various sections of Israeli society present us with challenges that I never believed we would have to face – not as a private citizen and certainly not as president of the Weizmann Institute of Science.
“”One day in the future – when perhaps one of you is standing here in my place, addressing this moving ceremony – you will be proud that you graduated during this challenging time of war”
“…Even within the depths of these fateful storms, we never forgot a central goal: helping you to reach this defining moment, at which you accomplish your main objective and enter a world of new and fascinating missions, equipped with the knowledge and skills for continued success.
“…One day in the future – when perhaps one of you is standing here in my place, addressing this moving ceremony – you will be proud that you graduated during this challenging time of war.
“…I am convinced that truth and science will prevail in the near future, as they have in the past.”
In his address on behalf of the institute’s scientists, the Scientific Council’s Vice Chair Prof. Nir Davidson acknowledged the many foreign students who continued their studies at Weizmann despite the war and despite the unique difficulties and challenges facing those who chose to study and conduct research in Israel.
“How do we go on?”
The honor of delivering the traditional graduates’ address was shared this year by two people: Dr. Vivek Singh, whose doctoral research was supervised by Prof. Milko van der Boom and Dr. Michal Lahav from the Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science Department, and Shira Baum, who completed her master’s degree in Prof. Ronen Alon’s laboratory in the Immunology and Regenerative Biology Department.
In her speech, Baum shared her personal experiences from growing up close to the Gaza border – and being at her parents’ home on October 7. “I was born and raised on Kibbutz Kfar Aza, a wonderful place with a united and supportive community. I lived there until that Saturday morning on October 7, when my life and all our lives as a community and as a country were turned upside down. I lost many friends and neighbors, and five kibbutz members are still hostages in Gaza. On that morning, terrorists also burst into my parents’ house on the kibbutz. I was there, too. They invaded the house and destroyed everything, but they didn’t manage to get into our reinforced safe room, thanks to the ingenuity and heroism of my father. After we were locked in that room for 30 hours, the IDF arrived and evacuated us to safety.
“”Research provided me with a bit of order and logic in a crazy and chaotic reality, a first step that gave me a small ray of light in the midst of all the darkness”
“These harrowing events led me to a period of confusion and forced me to face difficult questions. How do you move on when it feels like everything is meaningless? How do we continue to live and function every day when so many people, neighbors and friends I grew up with, will never return? When there is no home to return to and the community I came from will never be the same again?
“I chose life by working and conducting my lab research this year, it was a goal to which I held on. Research provided me with a bit of order and logic in a crazy and chaotic reality, a first step that gave me a small ray of light in the midst of all the darkness.
“… My field, immunology, deals with understanding the body’s response to diseases and crises and finding solutions and medications, in the hope that one day our work will help save lives. It’s a field that deals with healing.
“I hope that the crisis we are experiencing will lead to healing, that we will grow as individuals and as a community, that we will be better, that we will smile again, rejoice and choose life.”
Baum ended her address with a call for the release of the 101 hostages still being held in Gaza – a sentiment that was echoed throughout the evening.
