Yitta Schwartz wasn’t just anybody’s mother. She had 15 children and more than 200 grandchildren! She was a member of the Satmar Hasidic sect, whose couples have more than nine children on average and their ranks of descendants can multiply exponentially. But even among this group of people, Yitta Schwartz’s family was one in a million. (Literally)
Yitta lived through the Holocaust and she generated one of the largest clans of any survivor – a thumb in the eye of the Nazis. Her descendants are all ages. Her daughter is 76 and her newest great-great-grandchildren are just a year old. As far as we can tell, the family still lives in the same Satmar community as she had lived. Except for a few of her grandchildren live in England.
One of her daughters, Nechuma Mayer, is 65 has 16 children and more than 100 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Everybody fights over Yitta at family festivities. Parties happen all year round for Mrs. Schwartz was devoted to Hasidic rituals, which include: circumcisions, first haircuts, bar mitzvahs, engagements and weddings of her descendants. With more than 2,000 people in the family, such events occupy most of the year.
Yitta Schwartz has an amazing family and the tradition of having large families will probably go on forever. May Yitta Schwartz rest in peace and her memory will be carried on for centuries through her descendants.
No comments:
Post a Comment