9/07/2006

The Ganenet

Her name is Mazal. She’s probably in her 40s or early 50s, and has been running the nursery school that my two younger children attend for about 20 years. She is quite obviously of Sephardic descent, and though she is not observant, is deeply traditional.

We are finishing the first week of school, and she not only knows the names of all 120 kids in the nursery, but the names of their parents as well. She remembers the name of every kids who was ever enrolled in her nursery. She doesn’t just know them all, she also loves them all. She dispenses hugs freely, and makes sure that no kids falls through the cracks.

All in all, this is a brilliant, competent, caring woman who has successfully run a mid-sized organization for 20 years running. It makes me wonder what kind of opportunities were available to her when she was growing up? She easily has the tools to be a successful lawyer, accountant, or businesswoman, but somehow I tend to doubt that those options were available. So she runs a darn good nursery school. An enriches us all (but probably makes less).

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