(lubavitch.com) Israel’s President Shimon Peres opened the school year in Israel Thursday morning with a visit to Chabad’s elementary school in Ir Ganim, Jerusalem. Accompanying him was Jerusalem’s Mayor Nir Barkat.

The students, clad in t-shirts sporting their Chabad school logo, received a warm handshake each from Mr. Peres who then led them in line to their seats at the orientation.

The President participated in a traditional, first-day-of-school ceremony for first graders. Under the canopy of the talit, he blessed them with the Biblical verses of Jacob’s blessing to his grandsons, Efraim and Menashe.

The President offered his own personal advice to the boys and girls of the first grade: “Live your lives according to the 10 Commandments. Learn well, for study is the key to progress.” Mr. Peres went on to tell them that there is great Torah and knowledge in the world, and that their study must also reflect itself in their behavior.

According to the President’s office, the Chabad Ir Ganim school was chosen because it represents “a model school that has succeeded to integrate a highly diverse student body” reflecting the cross-section of Israel’s Jewish population: Ethiopian immigrants, FSU immigrants study side by side with Israeli children, Sefardic and Ashkenazic, non-religious and from all streams of religious affiliation. It is a school that deserves to stand as a model for other schools to follow, said the President’s office.