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| Jerusalem Mourns ‘7 Innocent Lambs’ Killed in Brooklyn Fire | Jerusalem Mourns ‘7 Innocent Lambs’ Killed in Brooklyn Fire |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| JERUSALEM — Hundreds of mourners stood in shocked silence, some weeping quietly, some rocking in private prayer. Clouds gathered in the Jerusalem sky as a warm afternoon turned to dusk. | JERUSALEM — Hundreds of mourners stood in shocked silence, some weeping quietly, some rocking in private prayer. Clouds gathered in the Jerusalem sky as a warm afternoon turned to dusk. |
| “Here before you are seven innocents, seven innocent lambs,” Gabriel Sassoon intoned, eulogizing seven of his children before their burial here on Monday, two days after they died in a blaze during the Jewish Sabbath in their home in Midwood, Brooklyn. | “Here before you are seven innocents, seven innocent lambs,” Gabriel Sassoon intoned, eulogizing seven of his children before their burial here on Monday, two days after they died in a blaze during the Jewish Sabbath in their home in Midwood, Brooklyn. |
| Mr. Sassoon’s voice rose to a piercing wail as he called each of them by name. Three girls: Eliane, 16; Rivka, 11; and Sarah, 6; and four boys: David, 12; Yehoshua, 10; Moshe, 8; and Yaakov, 5. | Mr. Sassoon’s voice rose to a piercing wail as he called each of them by name. Three girls: Eliane, 16; Rivka, 11; and Sarah, 6; and four boys: David, 12; Yehoshua, 10; Moshe, 8; and Yaakov, 5. |
| The bodies of the children had been flown to Israel after a brief funeral in Borough Park on Sunday; they were brought to the cemetery directly from the airport. Their mother, Gayle Sassoon, 45, and a daughter, Siporah, 15, who were critically injured in the fire, were hospitalized in New York and unable to make the trip. | The bodies of the children had been flown to Israel after a brief funeral in Borough Park on Sunday; they were brought to the cemetery directly from the airport. Their mother, Gayle Sassoon, 45, and a daughter, Siporah, 15, who were critically injured in the fire, were hospitalized in New York and unable to make the trip. |
| The blaze was caused by a malfunction of a hot plate that the strictly Orthodox family had been using to warm food without violating the Sabbath restriction on lighting a flame. Mr. Sassoon was at a religious convention when the fire that started in the kitchen ripped through the house as his wife and children slept upstairs. | The blaze was caused by a malfunction of a hot plate that the strictly Orthodox family had been using to warm food without violating the Sabbath restriction on lighting a flame. Mr. Sassoon was at a religious convention when the fire that started in the kitchen ripped through the house as his wife and children slept upstairs. |
| The seven bodies were laid out on stretchers inside the small Sephardic funeral hall — the boys wrapped in simple, white shrouds, the girls’ remains draped with additional velvet cloths embroidered in gold. | The seven bodies were laid out on stretchers inside the small Sephardic funeral hall — the boys wrapped in simple, white shrouds, the girls’ remains draped with additional velvet cloths embroidered in gold. |
| The hushed crowd spilled out of the hall and filled the wide path at Har Hamenuhot, the Mount of Rest. The cemetery, on a hilltop on the western edge of Jerusalem, is close to Har Nof, the Orthodox neighborhood where the Sassoon family lived before moving about 18 months ago to Brooklyn, where Ms. Sassoon had grown up. | The hushed crowd spilled out of the hall and filled the wide path at Har Hamenuhot, the Mount of Rest. The cemetery, on a hilltop on the western edge of Jerusalem, is close to Har Nof, the Orthodox neighborhood where the Sassoon family lived before moving about 18 months ago to Brooklyn, where Ms. Sassoon had grown up. |
| Men in black suits and wide-brimmed hats stood separately from the modestly dressed women. Some mothers were comforting red-eyed, teenage girls who had known the children from their days at school here. | Men in black suits and wide-brimmed hats stood separately from the modestly dressed women. Some mothers were comforting red-eyed, teenage girls who had known the children from their days at school here. |
| “The moon has no light, it just reflects back the light it receives from the sun,” Mr. Sassoon continued, loudspeakers broadcasting his words to those outside. Describing the children’s death as a sacrifice and saying that everything was in God’s hands, he said: “We are only reflecting back the light. We do not understand the plan.” | “The moon has no light, it just reflects back the light it receives from the sun,” Mr. Sassoon continued, loudspeakers broadcasting his words to those outside. Describing the children’s death as a sacrifice and saying that everything was in God’s hands, he said: “We are only reflecting back the light. We do not understand the plan.” |
| Mr. Sassoon spoke clearly and at length, as if putting off the moment he and his children would finally have to part. | Mr. Sassoon spoke clearly and at length, as if putting off the moment he and his children would finally have to part. |
| David Lau, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel, was among the many eulogizers. Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem, attended the funeral. One rabbi called the blaze that killed the children “God’s fire.” Another noted that the non-Jewish world had also been shocked by the tragedy. | David Lau, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel, was among the many eulogizers. Nir Barkat, the mayor of Jerusalem, attended the funeral. One rabbi called the blaze that killed the children “God’s fire.” Another noted that the non-Jewish world had also been shocked by the tragedy. |
| A third offered an anguished supplication, crying “Shema Yisrael,” or Hear O’ Israel, as the throng of mourners echoed him, pleading, “Our father, our king, open the gates of heaven to receive our prayer.” | A third offered an anguished supplication, crying “Shema Yisrael,” or Hear O’ Israel, as the throng of mourners echoed him, pleading, “Our father, our king, open the gates of heaven to receive our prayer.” |
| Mazal Cohen, 50, said she knew the Sassoons from both Har Nof and New York. | Mazal Cohen, 50, said she knew the Sassoons from both Har Nof and New York. |
| “Gayle touched everyone,” Ms. Cohen said of the children’s mother. “She was always giving in very secret ways. The children were the air she breathed.” | “Gayle touched everyone,” Ms. Cohen said of the children’s mother. “She was always giving in very secret ways. The children were the air she breathed.” |
| Leah Lehranbuch, 58, a Jerusalem doctor, said she did not know the family at all. She said she had come to the funeral because “we are one people.” | Leah Lehranbuch, 58, a Jerusalem doctor, said she did not know the family at all. She said she had come to the funeral because “we are one people.” |
| “I could not just continue as normal and not come here,” she continued. | “I could not just continue as normal and not come here,” she continued. |
| Out of a custom strictly observed among the Orthodox community to which the Sassoon family belongs, a male rabbi spoke on behalf of the female principal of the school where the girls had studied in Jerusalem. He said the school had been unable to function since hearing of the children’s deaths. | Out of a custom strictly observed among the Orthodox community to which the Sassoon family belongs, a male rabbi spoke on behalf of the female principal of the school where the girls had studied in Jerusalem. He said the school had been unable to function since hearing of the children’s deaths. |
| The principal of the boys’ school, where three of the boys had studied, recalled parting from David 18 months ago as the family left Jerusalem for Brooklyn. | |
| “You gave me such a wide smile,” Rabbi Eliahu Zeidel, the principal, recalled. “You said: ‘We are not saying goodbye forever. We will return.’” | “You gave me such a wide smile,” Rabbi Eliahu Zeidel, the principal, recalled. “You said: ‘We are not saying goodbye forever. We will return.’” |