The Lakewood ScoopErev Pesach Tragedy: The Shachar Family Still Homeless Months After Devastating Fire; Child Severely Burned, Father Unable to Work
B”H
As Jewish families around the world prepare their homes for Pesach cleaning, organizing, and getting ready for the Chag one family in Eretz Yisrael is facing a heartbreaking reality: they have no home to prepare.
Several months ago, the Shachar family’s life was shattered when an electric scooter battery suddenly exploded inside their home, igniting a massive blaze that consumed everything within minutes. The fire left the family with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Their home, their belongings, their memories all reduced to ashes.
But the physical destruction was only the beginning.
The Shachars’ young son suffered severe, life‑altering burns across his body. Since the tragedy, he has been undergoing long, painful rehabilitation, with doctors warning that the road to recovery will take years. His father, Reb Avraham Shachar, a respected sofer who supported his family with dignity, was forced to stop working entirely in order to care for his injured child and his other children, who are struggling with deep emotional trauma.
Today, as Erev Pesach approaches, the contrast is painful. While families across Klal Yisrael are preparing their homes for Yom Tov, the Shachar family is living in a small temporary apartment, fighting simply to get through each day. Instead of cleaning for Pesach, they are battling insurance companies, overwhelming expenses, and the crushing weight of rebuilding a life from nothing.
Community leaders who visited the family described the situation as “heartbreaking beyond words” and emphasized that the family cannot manage without the support of Klal Yisrael.
The financial burden is enormous: medical treatments, trauma therapy for the children, basic living expenses, and the massive cost of rebuilding a completely destroyed home. With Reb Avraham unable to work, the family’s situation has become urgent.
A special fund The Rescue Fund for the Shachar Family has been established to help them rebuild their home, continue the child’s treatments, and restore stability to a family that has endured unimaginable suffering.
As one neighbor put it: “No Jewish family should face Pesach like this. Not when we can help.”
Klal Yisrael is being asked to come together during these days of preparation and chesed to help the Shachar family rise from the ashes and rebuild their lives.
