Hello again everyone! Shannon and I took a couple of weeks break from blogging to concentrate on two boys, our respective jobs and enjoying a weekend at the beach at Pauanui in the Coromandel Peninsular (about 90mins drive from Auckland). It has been incredibly fine weather here in New Zealand since just before Christmas day and everyone has been enjoying the sun and heat. Well, everyone except the poor farmers, who will probably go straight from drought to flooding, and our children who have decided that sleeping in the heat and the light are not for them. So yes, it has been a tiring few weeks in our household. Such is life with young ones however. Anyway, we are back on deck now and back into the swing of writing this blog, we hope you haven't missed your regular demography fix! For today, I thought I'd share with you this lovely story about a couple in Israel who are celebrating the birth of their 100^th great-grandchild! Michael Mittwoch is 92 years olf and his wife Marion is 90. They were both born in Germany and once the Nazis came to power there they fled to England. After the Second World War they each made their separate way to Israel. There they met on Kibbutz Kvutzat Yavne. They became two of the founders of the Kibbutz Lavi in the Galilee where they were the first couple to be married there. And what a fruitful marriage it has been! They had five children, all of whom live in Israel. And from there the family has grown so much that a couple of weeks ago they were lucky enough to be able to celebrate the bris of Dagan Raz, their 100^th great-grandchild. And there is no doubt that their offspring are a conscious reaction to attempts in the 20^th century to deal with the “Jewish problem”. According to JTA:

“[The Mittwochs] called the new baby and their other great-grandchildren 'our answer to Hitler,' Ynet reported...The new baby was named after Maj. Dagan Wertman, 32, a Golani Brigade doctor who was at officers’ school with the baby’s father and was killed during Operation Cast Lead at the end of 2008.” What a life-affirming response to the death cult of the Nazis. A beautiful juxtaposition to the 70^th anniversary commemorations of the liberation of Auschwitz. Congratualtions Michael and Marion!!