One Time Chai
February 16th, 2011 Print
Ynet has an interesting article about Rivkah, a 44 year old woman from Jerusalem who just gave birth to her 18th child, making it an even nine boys and nine girls.
When she was young, Rivkah, a Jerusalem resident belonging to the Belz Hasidic movement, never dreamed that at the age of 44 she would be leaving the maternity ward with her 18th child.
It’s true that she herself comes from a large family – she has 15 brothers and sisters, but her husband comes from a much smaller family that includes ‘only’ five kids.
“We didn’t make a conscious decision to have 18 children,” she says with a smile. “They came one by one – thank God.”
Incidentally, the new addition to the family was born an uncle. His oldest brother already has two children, which makes Rivkah a proud grandmother. Another point for pride in her family – her 18 children are divided equally between the two sexes: Nine girls and nine boys.
‘Quiet? Not here!’
Rivkah knows what it’s like to grow up in a big family. Her childhood memories include a lot of noise and mayhem, but also lots of love and a house filled with life. Either way, she stresses, it’s a lot easier being a mom today than it was when she was a kid.
“When my mother was raising us, being a mother involved a lot more physical work than it does today,” she explained. “I remember how she had to launder and scrub all the diapers by hand. I especially remember piles and piles of laundry on Friday and before the holidays. I have two washing machines that work 24 hours a day; otherwise we wouldn’t be able to manage.
“These days raising children isn’t about the physical work; it’s more about maneuvering between everybody’s needs: This one needs an early bedtime, this one needs to read, that one needs his medication. Motherhood has become more of a mental strain than a physical one.”
Click here to continue reading the article.
