Taliah Langer and her husband, Rabbi Moshe Langer, have a new baby girl in the family, and when you congratulate the San Francisco couple, you don’t have to say “Mazel tov” — you can say “Mazal Tova!”

Because that’s her name: Mazal Tova.

Mazal Tova Langer

Mazal Tova Langer was born Oct. 9, the first day of Sukkot, checking in at 6 pounds, 10 ounces. She is the couple’s third child; the other two have more traditional Lubavitch names: daughter Chaya Mushka and son Levy Yitzchak.

So why Mazal Tova?

“It was an easy decision,” said proud papa Moshe Langer, the rabbi for Chabad of Pacific Heights. “She is named after my wife’s Moroccan grandmother, who was a great woman who passed away six months ago at the age of 99 or 100.”

Langer explained that it’s customary for the first child born after a relative’s death to be given that relative’s name.

“Mazal Tova’s great grandmother was a righteous woman,” added Langer, the son of Hinda and Rabbi Yosef Langer of Chabad of San Francisco. “She immigrated to Israel and had eight or nine kids. She was always saying psalms and studying Torah.”

A birth announcement sent out by email this week noted that “Mommy and baby are doing well, thank G-d” and “May we be collectively blessed with joy in our families and share happy occasions together. Stay tuned for details of the Simchat Bat” (the celebration of the birth of a daughter).

On the phone with J., Langer added, “We are so happy!” He also explained that he and his wife plan to call their new daughter simply “Tova.” — j. staff