Among those arriving at the home of the Paley family to attempt to console them for the loss of their two young sons, Asher Menachem and Yaakov Yisrael Hy"d, were two women, not related, who told Mrs. Paley and her daughters how deeply affected they were by the tragedy and that they had decided to accept upon themselves enhanced observance of Jewish law in response.
The women said that they had decided to cover their hair (as married Jewish women are required to do) and to observe Shabbat according to halachah (Jewish law) to the best of their ability.
Avraham Noach Paley, the 42-year-old father of the family of eleven, is still hospitalized in serious, stable condition, sedated and connected to a ventilator. The public is asked to pray for the healing of Avraham Noach ben Yehudit.
"He knows nothing about what happened," related his wife. "We can only pray that when he wakes up, G-d will give him the strength to deal with... with the new reality.
"I don't know how we're going to manage without our two little ones, such sweet boys... Everyone loved them. They were such sweet children, they were always giving to others. Every Friday, before Shabbat, they would take turns going around the neighborhood collecting money for charity. Last Friday, it was Yaakov's turn and he went around collecting, dressed in his Shabbat clothes. He looked like a little angel."