I checked the news before going to bed, and found sadness

Jewish family loses 7 children in fire at New York City home

Fire investigators believe a hot plate left on a kitchen counter ignited the flames that raced up the stairs, trapping the children in their second-floor rear bedrooms, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said.

Many religious Jews do not use electricity on the Sabbath, along with refraining from work and observing other prohibitions meant to keep the day holy. As a result, some families may leave appliances on so they are usable without violating any religious laws or traditions.

Nigro called it the city's worst fatal fire in recent memory.

"It's a tragedy for this family, it's a tragedy for this community, it's a tragedy for the city," he said.

Police officials identified the victims as members of the Sassoon family. Three of the children were girls: Eliane, 16, Rivkah, 11 and Sara, 6. Four were boys: David, 12, Yeshua, 10, Moshe, 8 and Yaakob, 5.

The mother and one daughter survived, but are critically injured. The father was away at a conference. The only smoke detector that was found was in the basement. This is so sad. My thoughts and prayers are with the family and the close-knit Orthodox community touched by this.

This story is so sad--I hope they find the driver who took three lives and injured another

Suspect named in hit-and-run crash that killed family

Police on Monday identified a suspect being sought in the Brooklyn hit-and-run deaths of a man, his pregnant wife and the baby she carried.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said police are looking for Julio Acevedo, 44, who he said had a DWI arrest last month. Acevedo was going at least 60 mph when the car slammed into the cab [emphasis is mine] carrying the couple to a hospital, police said. The baby, delivered after parents Nachman and Raizy Glauber were killed in the crash, died Monday, a spokesman for the religious community said. Isaac Abraham, spokesman for the family's Orthodox Jewish community, said the boy will be named and circumcised following religious traditions. He had initially been listed in serious condition hours after Saturday's accident, Abraham said. Neighbors and friends said the boy weighed only about 4 pounds.

YKWIA told me about the parents' deaths yesterday, and of the miracle that the child was born alive. I was so sad to hear this morning that the little boy died. My heart goes out to the family and to their community. I so hope the authorities find and prosecute the driver of the vehicle that killed them.

Sad that such a close-knit community must become wary of their own

Leiby Kletzky Killing Brings Doubt and Unrest to Local Community

Ben Herb, a Borough Park resident tells the New York Times, “Here in the center of Borough Park is where you have to be very careful. Most of your neighbors are Orthodox Jews with which children are comfortable. That, in itself, is a risk.

Parents like Herb feel that now more than ever, they must emphasize to their children how to react to an unfamiliar person regardless of their racial or religious background.

“My children don’t talk to strangers whether they wear a yarmulke or a do-rag,” Herb said.

In case you had not heard, 8-year old Leiby Kletzky, who had become lost coming back from a day camp, was caught on video getting into the car of Levy Aron, who later confessed to his killing after the boy's dismembered body was found in his freezer and in a dumped suitcase some miles away.

So sad. This child's life was ended in a most horrific way. Children are so easy to trust, so innocent, although in general less so in New York. But this was one of their own, and someone within the community, no drifter or such. I think those are the hardest predators to guard against, because they blend in better, no matter the community itself.