New school year opens at Gan Matanel in Lodz

New school year opens at Gan Matanel in Lodz

Posted at h in Hidden Jews of Poland (Images) by

The kids are cuter than ever at Gan Matanel, the Jewish pre-school and kindergarten run by Miriam Szychowski in Lodz, Poland.

Now in its third year, Gan Matanel is the home for a half dozen Jewish children who learn a little Hebrew and Judaism along with their standard pre-school arts, crafts, snacks and nap time.

Miriam’s husband, Rabbi Dawid Szychowski, is Shavei Israel’s emissary to the Lodz Jewish community.

“Gan” means kindergarten in Hebrew and “matanel is a present from G-d,” Miriam told us when the kindergarten opened in 2015. “From a young age, I always dreamed about opening a kindergarten. So this is a kind of present from G-d for me.”

Gan Matanel is housed within the Lodz Jewish Community complex, which comprises several buildings including a synagogue, mikveh (ritual bath), kitchen and kosher hotel.

The kindergarten was the first new Jewish school to open since the I.L. Peretz school was forced to close down in 1968 due to Communist repression.

To kick off the new school year, we have some photos of Gan Matanel kids doing what kids do best – having fun.