Quadruple the Brachos: Shlucha Gives Birth to Fourth Set of Twins

Rabbi Shimon and Chanie Gruzman, shluchim to the Castro Valley, CA, just welcomed their fourth set of twins, and they say the children clearly brought brachos and parnassa to their family and shlichus. This is their story.

By Anash.org reporter

For the Chabad community of the Bay Area, welcoming miniature Shluchim in sets of two is no longer a novelty. Their beloved Shluchim, Rabbi Shimon and Rebbetzin Chanie Gruzman first arrived to the Castro Valley with a set of beautiful twin girls and just two weeks ago, welcomed their fourth pair of twins, ka”h!

The oldest set of twins, Mushka and Itta, are eleven, followed by six-year-old Rochel and Leah, three-year-old Mendel and Esther, and the newest arrivals just two week old Miriam and Yocheved– that’s seven girls and one boy. During the last pregnancy, the community even joined a poll to vote if they thought the newest arrival/s would come alone or in a set of two or even three!

Having such a unique situation, we reached out to Rabbi Shimon and Chanie to hear firsthand a little more about their beautiful and exceptional family circumstance.

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Anash Reporter: Mazal Tov on the recent birth! It’s an honor to speak to you, thank you for taking the time to share with our online community- we all send our warmest regards and wishes to your family!

After going through each stage in child rearing with four sets of twins, what stands out as the most intense part so far?

Rebbetzin Chanie: The first few months after the birth when everything is new and the babies are getting used to everything still. Once there is more of a schedule in place and things fall into routine, around six months later, it gets more comfortable.

Rabbi Shimon: Baruch Hashem, we have relatives come in to help and the older kids are also so willing to pitch in. They constantly come in and ask how they can help and what they can do.

RC: We also have cleaning help that is always a great support, and this year we have three amazing Lubavitch girls who are here to teach in our preschool and take care of programs, which is an incredible help in these early months.

AR: Speaking of the older sets of twins, what type of schooling is available in the area? Are they in the online school?

RS: The Shluchim here, Rabbi and Mrs. Raleigh Resnick, opened a Cheder for the Bay Area with Mrs. Chavie Zebberman as principal. The cheder opened just recently for the surrounding Shluchim and already has over 100 students. Our children attend cheder there.

AR: What kind of community do you live in? What are the main aspects of Shlichus there?

RS: We are community Shluchim. We have a shul and programs, and a daily preschool for the local students. We have a local teacher and two Lubavitch girls who came in to teach for the year.

AR: May you have much success! In what way do you involve your children in the community and shlichus in general?

RS: Our older daughters are in charge of and independently run the Friday afternoon senior program. They go the local senior center to deliver Challah to the Jewish residents. The girls are so capable, they know exactly which rooms to go to and if I ever need to get involved, I need to ask them where to go- they are absolutely in charge!

AR: With each new child, we sometimes worry where we will get the kochos and parnassah to juggle our current Shlichus and family. What have you discovered with each new set of twins that joined your family?

RS: It’s amazing to see how much bracha each new neshama brings to the family and also to the Shlichus. After we had our second set of twins, we opened our own preschool and after our last set we got a new building and expanded. These are things that we couldn’t even dream of happening before, and couldn’t see where it would come from. The children bring the Bracha to the home and to the community, and with each birth we see how in a greater and clearer way.

RC: It’s clear as day that Hashem not only takes care of your family when you bring new children to the world- He gives even more abundantly then before.

When I was expecting my second set of twins, I was in middle of teaching at a nearby Chabad preschool. I was worried about how we would manage after the birth, how I would be able to juggle the Chabad house, the teaching, and the new babies. By Hashgacha Pratis I was reading an article in the Binah magazine- I’m not even sure where I saw it because I don’t ever read the Binah- and there was a story there about a woman who was stressed about leaving work but wanted to stay home to raise her new baby and amazingly, after her baby was born, her husband got a huge promotion at work and she saw clearly that Hashem was taking care of her family- how the new addition was bringing Brachos already.

After I saw this article, I knew that here was a reason I read it, and decided that I would focus on my new babies and my Chabad house and wouldn’t worry about parnassah. Right after the birth, a donor in our community told us he wanted to give us a gift in honor of the babies and donated a large sum – greater than what I would’ve earned while working! Bringing children into this world is a huge zechus and it brings brachos to the whole family!

We also saw in tremendous ways how the births bentched our Shlichus and entire community as well. After the second set of twins were born, I was concerned that because I didn’t invest in advertising for our Hebrew School Open House because I had just given birth, we wouldn’t have many students. Despite my concerns, we held the open house, and the exact opposite happened! Many new students came and our attendance soared. It was a clear hashpa’ah from above.

AR: Thanks for sharing those stories, it’s amazing to see it firsthand. May Hashem send you continuous kochos and Brachos to do your Shlichus and take care of your family!

The Anash.org family wants to wish Mazal Tov and continuous success to the Gruzmans!