The Jewish father who lost seven of his eight children in a Brooklyn house fire remembered each of them for the things that made them unique, and immediately broke down in tears at their funeral service Sunday.
According to Newsday.com, Gabriel Sassoon recalled Eliane, 16, as “a spirited child,” while Rivkah, 11, “gave joy to everybody.” The wailing overflow crowd drowned out his words for his youngest daughter, Sara, 6. Of his sons, Sassoon said David, 12, was “fun”; Yeshua, 10, was “joyful and creative”; Moshe, 8, “was always beaming”; and Yaakob, 5, “just wanted everyone to be happy.”
The children had “faces of angels” and were “so pure,” Sassoon said at the Shomrei Hadas Chapels on 14th Avenue in Borough Park. Then words failed him and he turned to his faith.
The children are to be buried in Israel, where the family had lived.
