Five Mothers Speak Honestly About Having a Large Family

The new Nissan issue of N’shei Chabad Newsletter has gone to print including an interview with five mothers of large families, Dr. Chaya Jordan on the safety of CBD, Rabbi Michoel Gourarie on teens and social media, and the story behind Women of Iron Unite.

By N’shei Chabad Newsletter Staff

People give us free advice all the time! One of the most commonly given pieces of (free) (they never charge) advice is: “You should interview mothers of large families to help inspire women to have large families!” Well, we finally did it. Mrs. Raizel Serebryanski interviewed Mrs. Yehudis Braun; Mrs. Tammy Chayempour; Mrs. Chani Friedman; Mrs. Chani Mizrachi, and Mrs. Chaya Mushka Raskin. Their answers will surprise you; they do not all think alike!

The Pesach issue has gone to print. Subscribe now at https://nsheichabadnewsletter.com/product/subscription/  or buy it in Crown Heights stores before Pesach!

Is cannabis, marijuana, CBD, gummies, weed… safe? The fact that it became legal has us fooled into thinking it’s safe when in fact the side effects, especially for young people, are often permanent. This is Dr. Chaya Jordan’s specialty and she shares what she knows in the Nissan issue. We especially urge those who don’t want to read it—to read it.

Rabbi Michoel Gourarie weighs in on a big debate now raging in Australia over potential legislation to ban children under age 16 from accessing social media.  Rabbi Gourarie writes:

“While I certainly agree that social media is dangerous for children, I am not going to explore the political consequences of a ban. However, I am highly skeptical that a government ban is going to help. I say this because two main points are completely missing from the conversation: 1) Government cannot shape our children—that is the responsibility of parents. 2) The struggle with teenagers over access to social media needs to begin long before they even know what it is.”

Three women (L-R: Sarale Blau, Rivky Perl, and Ruthie Sperlin) created an organization called WOMEN OF IRON UNITE! Read about how they are trying to inspire women, and how they are succeeding, baruch Hashem, in some unlikely ways.

Rebbetzin Shula Kazen wrote her memoirs; the stories of growing up under a brutal communist regime are hair-raising and inspiring. Here’s an excerpt:

One Sunday morning during the winter after Father’s arrest, we heard pounding at the door. It was the chief school superintendent in Homel. She was Jewish and spoke fluent Yiddish but was a staunch communist. Mother had no choice but to invite her into our small, gloomy living area behind the partition in the women’s gallery.

It was early, and our Shabbos candlesticks were still out from the day before. Although candles were expensive and beyond our means, Mother would buy two each week and cut them into eight pieces: two she placed in her candlesticks; the other six, one for each child, were held in place by cut potatoes.

Pointing to these “candlesticks,” the visitor said with anger and disgust, “In the 20th century, you still teach your children such archaic customs? For that alone I should take your children away and place them in an orphanage where they can get a proper Soviet education, and then you’ll never see them again. As for you, you’ll be arrested for keeping them out of school.”

For some time, she continued scolding poor Mother, shaking her head in indignation at our dreary home, which by then had a big hole in the roof. “If you sent your children to school, you could live normally. Why bother with these fanatical religious observances? These candles you light are a fire that will consume you,” she said, ending her tirade. She left, slamming the door behind her.

When my siblings were sure she was gone, they crept out of their hiding places. They were in tears, terrified they would be dragged off to orphanages, never to see Mother again. But she reassured them: “Hashem will help us. We Jews have outlived all our enemies, and we will outlive communism and Stalin, too. The fire she mentioned will consume them, not us.”

These and many more grace the pages of the Nissan 5785 issue of the N’shei Chabad Newsletter. Subscribe now at https://nsheichabadnewsletter.com/product/subscription/ or buy it in Crown Heights stores before Pesach. You don’t want to be out of the loop when everyone’s talking about it!