Satmar Woman with 2000 Descendants
From the NY Times:
WHEN Yitta Schwartz died last month at 93, she left behind 15 children, more than 200 grandchildren and so many great- and great-great-grandchildren that, by her family’s count, she could claim perhaps 2,000 living descendants.
Mrs. Schwartz was a member of the Satmar Hasidic sect, whose couples have nine children on average and whose ranks of descendants can multiply exponentially. But even among Satmars, the size of Mrs. Schwartz’s family is astonishing. A round-faced woman with a high-voltage smile, she may have generated one of the largest clans of any survivor of the Holocaust — a thumb in the eye of the Nazis.
One should read the whole story. She lost two children to the nazis in Bergen Belsen and an 8 year old son at summer camp in New York. She left behind 2,000 descendents.
How is it possible to raise 15 children and pay tuition? The answer must be that in a tight knit community like Satmar, the school is part of the kehilla and not a stand alone independent institution. Parents pay what they can afford and the rest comes from the entire community.
In the non Chassidic world, tuition for 15 children would excede the capacity of any but the wealthiest few.
L. Oberstein – Financial considerations are not a factor in obtaining a heter for family planning. At least per the leading Charedi Rabbonim.
This story is truly heart warming and we can all learn and emulate from this true Jewish tzadekis.
Wow! Now THAT is truly amazing! Look at what one can do!
Please realize that you don’t pay tuition for all 15 at once. (In fact, her oldest were married by the time the youngest were born. Also, in Satmar (especially in those times) after marriage – at a very young age – they went to work. No long term support issues.