Tuesday, September 23, 2008

i dont want to be the old lady who lives in a shoe

My friend Chaya just sent me this link to a recent Lion of Zion post: http://agmk.blogspot.com/2008/09/19th-child-born-to-tzefat-mother-with.html

It's about an Israeli Charedi woman, aged 47, who has just given birth to her 19th child.

I don't know about you, but doesn't that sound kinda GROSS! (I'm trying not to think what that's done to her body!)
But then... I got this pamphlet in the mail about this Israeli organization called Efrat, which tries to prevent women from having abortions (these women abort because they do not think they have the financial means to raise a child, so Efrat supplies these mothers with everything they could possibly need: http://www.friendsofefrat.org/ )
According to Efrat, there are 50,000 abortions performed in Israel EACH YEAR. The Israeli army actually supplies soldiers with free abortions (which probably explains for at least 25,000! what do you think female soldiers actually DO in the army? Oh, and birthcontrol is NOT free, because that's religiously controversial....)
So with all the Jewish babies NOT being born, maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge one crazy Charedi (she lives in Tsfat after all).

12 comments:

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

I've already commented this on Lion Of Zion's post and wrote my own post about having large families.

But I'll just say, that it is possible, and I believe it's a great thing, and I look at these people as role model's! Hope to have a family like that...

frum single female said...

i think that 19 chilren are alot for one woman to give birth to . most women cant have that many children even if they wanted to.
that said, i cant imagine being able to handle parenting that many kids. granted there has to be at least 19 yrs between the first and the nineteenth, it still sounds like a really difficult task to do properly.

Maidel said...

babysitter - seriously???

even in my camp counselor days.... 10 kids were more than enough.

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

I'm serious.

Well you see it's very different when you have lots of kids in the same age to take care. My family is 4/5 twins, and I can see even though it is a small amount of kids, the twin part is hard because it's the same age. You can't expect one baby to be understanding of the other baby their age. Which is why a big family is easier. As kids get older there are different age groups so it is easier.

Anonymous said...

can you imagine her vajajay?

halfshared said...

I don't think it's fair to call her "crazy". I've actually watched an interview she did and her house seemed very neat and clean and her children were happy. I admit that 19 children is a lot and it sounds very overwhelming but this is the choice she made and it's important to respect that.
Also, when it's your own children it's different than when you are doing a camp or teaching a class of many children that are the same age. Here, her older children can help with the younger ones...and they are probably taught from a young age to be more self-sufficient and independent than your average child.

Anonymous said...

Do you know that this woman is also the prinipal of a high school?
I for one was amazed and filled with admiration
I cant say I would want the same for myself, but if you can hack it, kol hakovod

Maidel said...

anyone have any comments about the Efrat org?

Jewish Side of Babysitter said...

Maidel: didn't you once already post about that org.? how you were invited to a group and you always accept all group invitations because it's easier, and then one of them was about this organization? Or perhaps I'm mixing bloggers up.

Anonymous said...

I just came across this blog today, and I'm not exactly sure what it's all about...

Either way till I can really put my finger on what exactly is going on over here...I couldn't let this post just slip by.

Here's my question. You see, a few posts after the one about 19 kids, you have a video all about life and death - about how G-d will decide the time for everyone to be born, live and die.

How does that fit in with you describing an obviously special lady who has k'ah 19 children, as 'crazy'?

I have no idea who you are, and I have no idea what you're trying to accomplish by this blog. Truth is, I don't really care....if you have the talent for it and it makes people laugh, then go ahead.
Post your comments and thoughts and ideas - it's your blog.
But please, think about what you're writing when it concerns other people.

P.s - From what I've seen so far, most of the blog is a lot of fun, and good entertainment.

Maidel said...

hi anonymous - i dont know who you are either!

i think you need to re-read the post. i may think she's crazy for having so many kids (no matter what you say - it's pretty beyond the norm!) and even if i couldn't picture myself doing it, I do respect her decision.

if you see any dichotomy or inconsistency in my posts - thats part of what being a normal person is all about. i rarely have unwavering views about anything. i try to see all sides to every issue.

i'm not "trying to accomplish" something with this blog. These are just the written thoughts of a jewish girl trying to figure out the world around her.

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry you had to get a bit defensive - it's my fault, you thought I was accusing you of something. Sorry I didn't intend that.

You have every right to have different opinions, and you're right that's what being normal is all about...every day we have to try and figure things out all over again...to make sense of the world through who we are on that particular day.

All I was trying to get across, is to be careful when talking about someone else's life - it doesn't take much to hurt or offend some people, and it doesn't sound like you're the kind of person who would be happy if that happened...