Mequon Jewish Preschool

A nest of yarn calls to our infant girls. They are very curious about the textures--and tastes!--of the types and colors. The girls talk to each other and admire the beautiful material.

How Can We Repair Our Garden Fence?

Bubby vibes! 💞

Thank you to the Milwaukee Jewish Federation for providing us with security. Here is a video that expresses our deep appreciation.
Ari Friedman Rivkie Spalter Robyn Lookatch Eiseman

Thank You to MJF for Security

Our K4 children have some special things to share about each other.

K4 Graduation Video 2024 ~ 5784

Mazal tov to our dear graduates! We are so proud of you!
“Graduating a class or division of school is only a preparation for starting a new and higher level. For in anything connected to Torah and mitzvos, every end is really just a beginning.” ~the Rebbe

"B'Chol Dor Vador..." "In every generation..."
MJP children experience our heritage with a matzah bakery!
Photos by

Moments from Shabbat celebration at MJP.
Photos by Eliezer Tewel

Wishing a warm and wonderful Shabbat, from the Challah-makers of MJP!
Photos by Rabbi Eliezer Tewel

Beautiful moments from our Shabbat Celebration.
Photos by Rabbi Eliezer Tewel

"All real living is meeting" ~ Martin Buber
Our 2022 Gala Honoree, Asher Stein paves the road for our 2023 gala honorees Jen and Ari Friedman.

“Stand aside for a while and leave room for learning, observe carefully what children do, and then, if you have understood well, perhaps teaching will be different from before.”
― Loris Malaguzzi
Here is a moment from yesterday. We are delighted to share it with you and invite you to share your observations.

Robyn Eiseman’s journey took her to Mequon Jewish Preschool | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle When Robyn Eiseman enrolled her son at Mequon Jewish Preschool 20 years ago, little did she know it would be the cornerstone of a transformative tenure. While her career started in middle and high school Spanish, she found her professional home in early childhood at Mequon Jewish Preschool. Eiseman....

From our MJP family to yours, Happy Fourth of July!

Last week, Adam in the K4 came rushing into the class with news for his friends, “There is an alumni in the hall! The children rushed out to see alum Miriam Plotke (6 years old) walking her brother Shmuel to his K3 classroom.

As they enter their new role of MJP Alumni, the chain of continuity is growing and they follow the path prepared by the alumni who walked it before them and who are also standing beside them to continue their journey.

We see our school as being a place that enriches and nourishes the potential of every child to its highest. We want our children to have a deep connection to Judaism and to utilize it to see themselves as givers as well as receivers and responsible for our society and for our world.

At our graduation this week, that realization was brought into focus when alums Benjamin Levin and Solomon Marks, who are part of the executive alumni leadership spoke to our graduates and shared “When my brother and I began working with Rivkie to create this unique program, I could not have imagined the impact of bringing together young people all connected by the fact that they attended preschool together.. But of course, to all of us, this place is more than a preschool or simply a few years of one’s life; rather, it is a collection of special memories and people that make an impact on us for the rest of our lives.”

These words added depth to the evening. The graduation was more than an end to years of education at MJP, it was the milestone that strengthened the continuation of commitment and responsibility that was planted and developed deep roots during the years at MJP.

On the morning after the graduation, as families arrived, each one shared how meaningful the event was for them. Robyn remarked, “It was magical.” It really was. The sense of a community coming together for our children and the ambience of friendship and togetherness along with the beautiful setting created a magical experience.

In 1962 The Lubavitcher Rebbe wrote to a group of Yeshiva graduates, “You will always remember that you must be "lights to shed light" — brightly burning lights who must also kindle and illuminate others. You have the additional obligation to disseminate the light of Torah and mitzvot with enthusiasm and liveliness as commanded by the precept, "Love your fellow as yourself."

Our children are lights that will shed light wherever they go!

Shabbat Shalom,
Rivkie

"It's going to turn into a strawberry, and it's going to be bright red. There will be one million of them in our garden for the whole school." -Photo by Menachem, age 5

A message from Rivkie:
Dear MJP Community,

Today the 14th day of Iyar on the Jewish Calendar is Pesach Sheni, in english the “Second Pesach” A year after the Exodus, G‑d gave the Jews the special commandment about Passover. They were to bring the Passover offering on the afternoon of the fourteenth of Nissan, and to eat it that evening, roasted over the fire, together with matzah and bitter herbs, as they had done the previous year just before they left Egypt.

The Jews were honored and excited with this commandment and looked forward to fulfill their responsibility. “There were, however, certain persons who had become ritually impure through contact with a dead body, and could not, therefore, prepare the Passover offering on that day. They approached Moses and Aaron, and they said: ‘Why should we be deprived, and not be able to present G‑d’s offering in its time, amongst the children of Israel?’” (Numbers 9:6-7).

In response to their plea, G‑d established the 14th of Iyar as a day for the “Second Passover” for anyone who was unable to bring the offering on its appointed time in the previous month.

The previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, taught about the power of this day. It is a metaphor and represents the idea that nothing is ever a ‘lost case’ There is always an opportunity to revisit and to repair.

Over the years at MJP, through our learning we have seen how this idea to revisit and repair has become a treasured value at our school.

I remember a situation when a book was torn in the two year old classroom. As a process of repairing the book, Dr. Naama Zoran guided us to a process of having the children work together to research how to repair the book. Yaakov Yehuda Munitz, who was then two years old, tried to apply pressure with blocks to repair the book. When that wasn’t successful, we asked the children who had an idea. They decided that the older three and four year olds might have an idea. When Mukka in the K3 suggested that tape could work the children worked with great focus together to repair that book. That lesson happened more than ten years ago and continues to be a core value in our school.

Last week, Morah Marybeth approached me about a child who broke a toy, and I guided her to see it as a place of a second opportunity and a place of repair. Together with Marybeth they worked on repairing it. The educational benefit was for all, yet for the child who played with it earlier it was a moment that showed him that he can make a different choice that replaces the previous choice he took.

The process of revisiting and repairing is a life lesson that our children take with them. It shows them that on one hand every choice has its consequences, yet on the other hand there is an opportunity to change the choice and repair or revisit the events that had happened.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rivkie

MJP Hakhel Gathering for Chanukah
Sharing the special warmth, love, and light of Chanukah to all!

Round challahs have no end, symbolizing (and actualizing) our wish for a year in which life and blessings continue without end.

Our evening of shaping and baking round challah for Rosh Hashana was intimate, joyful and meaningful.

The round challah was the perfect metaphor for our circle of togetherness and friendship.

Shabbat Shalom and Shana Tova!