Jarred by the news of a Houston family shattered in the blink of an eye in a West Texas car accident, thousands of people from all over the world have rallied to support the three orphaned children.
Joshua, 41, and Robin Berry, 40, were killed instantly July 2 when an SUV veered into their lane and crashed head-on into their van. Their sons Peter, 9, and Aaron, 8, were paralyzed from the waist down, and are now undergoing treatment at Shriners Hospital for Children in Chicago. Their six-year-old sister Willa was less-seriously injured and is currently recovering at a family friend’s home.
Help for the fractured family – the children are now being raised by their aunt and uncle, Matt and Simone Berry – has come in both physical and spiritual forms, whether in the kosher food provided by Rabbi Yitzchok and Nechama Dina Bergstein of the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish Center five minutes from the hospital or in the worldwide Sabbath candle-lighting campaign that has drawn the support of thousands of people.
“Everybody wants to help,” says Michael Levy, a family friend who lives in the Chicago area who goes to the hospital on a regular basis. “There is a tremendous amount on [the family’s] shoulders.”
In Houston, where friends of the Berrys and members of the city’s tight-knit Jewish community first ran a lemonade stand and bake sale to raise money for the devastated family, Shelley Sorkin has been in awe of how quickly news of the tragedy captured the attention of a global audience.
“People here think about it 24/7,” says Sorkin, a lifelong friend of Robin Berry who last week hosted a lecture by Rabbi Yossi Zaklikofsky of the Shul of Bellaire on how to come to terms with tragedy. “It’s really hit home that if it could happen to them, it could happen to everybody. People have just rallied.”
Zaklikofsky, who joined the community effort in helping launch the candle-lighting campaign on Facebook, says that it’s grown by leaps and bounds.
“It’s brought about a tremendous awareness,” says the rabbi.
Some of those lighting Sabbath candles in the Berry family’s merit had never done so before. Others appreciated the opportunity to add even greater meaning to the Friday evening service.
“It helps brighten the world,” explains Zaklikofsky. “The tragedy brought a tremendous amount of darkness to the family, their loved ones and friends. It was a very big blow to the entire community here.”
National celebrities have even signed on to help the Berry family, encouraging people to support an online fundraising effort at TheBerryChildren.org. So far, close to 24,000 people have contributed to the fund.
Yitzchok Bergstein says that Simone Berry has been personally touched by the support.
“It gives her strength to know that so many people care and are giving of themselves,” says the rabbi.
“The outpouring has been tremendous,” echoes Levy. “But at the end of the day, two kids are in a hospital ward and very seriously debilitated. The doctors say one day at a time.”
Levy adds that people who want to pray for the children or recite Psalms in their merit should have their Hebrew names in mind: Pinchas ben Shoshana Yaffa, Aron ben Shoshana Yaffa, and Batya bat Shoshana Yaffa.
“Robin Berry is not able to light candles anymore in this world physically, but thousands of candles have been lit in her honor,” says Zaklikofsky. “Her Sabbath candle lights have not ceased, but increased exponentially.”
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