Father Who Lost His Children In Brooklyn Fire: “Love Your Children”

The funeral will take place this afternoon in Israel

Gabriel Sasson, the father of the seven children who perished in a fire in Brooklyn on Saturday, eulogized them last night at a ceremony held in the city. Hundreds of people gathered at the ceremony. “Love your children, understand them, that’s all that counts,” he stated

“It is incredible, we came here to give him strength, to show support, and he gives it to us,” said one of the people at the ceremony.

The bodies of the children - three girls, Elian (16), Rivkah (11), and Sarah (6) and four boys, David (12), Yehosua (10), Moshe (8), and Yaakov (5) - will be flown to Israel for burial and the funeral will be held this afternoon.

The mother, Gayle, and her daughter, Tzipporah (15), are still in the hospital in critical condition. The fire broke out as a result of a hot plate that remained on while the family was sleeping.

Firefighters were called to put out the fire shortly after midnight. Tzipporah and her mother jumped from the window, and survived.

ZAKA volunteers currently residing in New York reached the scene. “It was a terrible sight, the Jewish community is in shock,” said the volunteers. "This is an exceptionally difficult incident, like the US hasn't seen in years," ZAKA's

Operations Manager Haim Weingarten stated. "We are here to try to help as much as possible."

When the fire broke out in the house, the father, Gabriel Sasson, was at a religious conference in Manhattan. Because of the Sabbath, it took time before they could locate him and tell him the terrible news. “He collapsed to his knees and cried, he was completely destroyed,” said his friend to the Daily News.

The neighbors said that Gayle and Gabriel have returned recently from Israel. “I don’t know how she is going to deal with what happened to her family,” said a friend of the family. “I pray that she can keep her sanity.” Other neighbors described the children as “wonderful, smart, an amazing family.”