NY Daily News – April 04, 2015
by Reuven Blau, Oren Yaniv
It will be a sad and lonesome Passover for a Brooklyn father who lost seven children in a devastating house fire two weeks ago. Gabriel Sassoon’s Seders will be held without his surviving wife and daughter, who remain hospitalized, family friends told the Daily News.
It was unclear where the bereaved dad will celebrate the two traditionally festive meals on Friday and Saturday nights.
His wife, Gayle, 45, remains in a medically induced coma in Jacobi Medical Center while his daughter, 15-year-old Tziporah, is improving and expected to be released from Staten Island University Hospital North after the weeklong Jewish holiday, the friends said.
The teen hasn’t been told yet about the tragic fate of her siblings, two sources said. It’s believed her mom doesn’t know the magnitude of the catastrophe either.
The children, ages 5 to 16, died in a March 21 blaze that consumed their Midwood home. The fire was sparked by a hot plate that was left on during the Sabbath — as is the custom in many Orthodox Jewish households — in order to avoid using the stove.
In his eulogy, during a heart-wrenching funeral in Jerusalem, Sassoon made references to the Passover sacrifice in the ancient Jewish Temple, using his deep faith to cope with an unbearable loss.
“I paid the ultimate sacrifice,” he said. “Here before you are seven innocent lambs.”
His pants still covered with dirt from kneeling on the fresh graves of his children, Sassoon had told The News he will “take it step by step” in the days ahead.
On the advice of his rabbi, the father hasn’t spoken publicly since returning from Israel over a week ago and sitting shiva, the traditional week of mourning the dead.
“He needs his space,” said community insider Isaac Abraham. “This is when it is all sinking in.”
Sassoon did take out a full-page ad in this week’s issue of the Flatbush Jewish Journal.
“I would like to thank the community for the support and friendship during this trying time,” he wrote in Hebrew.
He then called for respecting one another and refraining from speaking ill against others, concluding with wishes of a kosher and happy holiday.
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