Burlington, VT — It was a late Sunday afternoon and the snow was falling, heavy and sodden as wet cottonballs, when Sara Rosen, a young mother of three, unbuckled her seat belt to tend to her infant daughter in the back seat.
Tiny Accident Victim gets Special Care
Burlington, VT — It was a late Sunday afternoon and the snow was falling, heavy and sodden as wet cottonballs, when Sara Rosen, a young mother of three, unbuckled her seat belt to tend to her infant daughter in the back seat.
Rosen and her husband, Rabbi Dovid Rosen and their three children had been visiting family in Montreal for the weekend. As Dovid Rosen drove his family south on Interstate 87 in upstate New York toward their home in Baltimore, Sara Rosen brought the 7-week-old baby, Malka, to the front seat to feed her.
While trying to navigate the late April snow, Dovid Rosen lost control of the family minivan near the Keeseville, N.Y., exit and slid into a tree. Sara Rosen, 27, died immediately as a result of injuries sustained in the April 15 crash. Malka sustained multiple skull and facial fractures.
The baby was taken to Fletcher Allen Health Care, the closest trauma center. Shortly after the accident, Dovid Rosen and his other two children traveled to Israel, where the couple had family, to bury his wife.
Rosen, a rabbi in the Chabad-Lubavitch branch of Hasidic Judaism, left the baby in the care of relatives from Montreal and New York so that he and his children could sit shiva, a seven-day mourning period prescribed by Jewish law. He is scheduled to return this week.
Relatives in the region have done their best to be with Malka as she’s recuperated in the hospital in the past three weeks, but they can only spend so much time away from their homes. Members of Chabad of Vermont and other Jewish communities in the area have taken turns caring for the baby, holding, rocking and feeding her, until her father returns.
Zeesy Raskin, whose husband, Yitzchok Raskin, is the rabbi for the Chabad community in Burlington, put the word out that they were looking for volunteers to help with the baby. Many women heeded the call and have taken turns caring for the baby while she stays in the hospital.
“Our community is filling in to ease the burden on the relatives,” Zeesy Raskin said.
Those caring for Malka have made her tiny hospital room as homey as possible. There are photos of her family hanging on the wall, a Jewish prayer book on the windowsill and a handmade plaque sent by her grandparents in Israel. Raskin credited the Fletcher Allen staff with making the baby feel at home.
“They’re so devoted and so caring. They act like they’re relatives,” Raskin said.
Malka is doing as well as can be expected based on the injuries she sustained, said her nurse, Candy Bedard. Doctors will not know the full extent of Malka’s traumatic brain injury until further down the road. She is eating and breathing on her own, which Bedard says, is a good sign. It is unclear when she will be released from the hospital.
Malka, who was born with a shock of dark brown hair, has an old, mature look about her. She’s bottle feeding now thanks to a kosher milk bank in Montreal that is providing the milk. Her father will return this week to be with his daughter, but until then, a number of volunteers are scheduled to help.
Rita Jacobs, a Chabad member from South Royalton, was coming to Burlington for an appointment and decided to spend some time with the baby. The grandmother of 21 said her decision to help was an easy one.
“It’s a baby and that’s it. How can you not help?” Jacobs said. “I thought, as long as I’m here, I might as well fill in where I can.”
As Jacobs sat with Malka, her grandmotherly side was immediately apparent. The baby took to Jacobs immediately and looked at home in her arms. Malka lost her mother in a car accident, but she gained dozens of aunties and grandmothers.
“Everybody loves you,” Jacobs cooed while rocking the infant. “Everybody loves you.”
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so moving… Hashem Yerachem… and moshiach now!
Zalman
Good going bubs.
Ad Mosai?!?
Aibershter, Ad Mosai?!
chaya
How sad. The poor baby. May Hashem send her an immediate refuah shleima.
So sad
I wish I could be there and hold her too!!!!!
st
i am crying. this is sooo sad :-(
C.
May Hashem send her a refuah sheleimoh now, and may we all be zoiche to see her reunited with her Mommy at the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu, immediately!
HEY!!!!!!
BUBBY JACOBS!!!!!!!!
RS
Despite this horrific tragedy, we can see how CHABAD shluchim and anash truly act like family, when G-d forbid there is such a horrific tragedy. We should see this always…not just in times of tzoros!!!
May this little infant have a refuah shelaima and may this family be comforted and suffer no more!
Bluma Pinson
You Rock Bubbles!!!
Kayla P
Go Bubbssssssss!!!
I held the baby for an hour…she is beautiful, you can see in her eyes she is in pain even though she is just 2 months old. I hope she fully recovers, and everything works out for her and her family!
Moshiach Now!
SDR
Mi K’Amcha Yisrael
Moshiach Now!!
Mushky Pinson
Hey Bubby!
No duh you’re the best grandma… I’m glad to see that “you’re filling in where you can”….
Kop Docktar
I’m moved. Is there a fund to send a check to? This family will now have huge expenses – a full time nanny, as one example. The financial burden will be huge. Can I help, at least in that regard???
Chaia
First of let me say Go BUBBY JACOBS! You really are everyones Bubby, and you are truly very loved! I would also like to mention, that the whole of Chabad of Vermont has put effort in too give as much love and care to this like one who has suffered so much. It just shows that the fact the Rebbes shluchim, are every where. So thank you to the community and thank you to Rabbi and Mrs. Raskin.
ME
GO BUBBS!!!!! YOU ROCK
eli
hay bubby your the best
Rivi Eisenberg/ Rivka Greenwald
Dovid, if you read this, may Hashem give you the strength to raise your children in His ways!! I’m so sad about this tragedy. May you have lots of strength and Emunah to move on! Try to give your children lots of extra doses of love, care, and affection.May your family be whole again soon. My wishes are with you, your parents and relatives. I’ve been saying Tehillim with my children for Malka Freidel bas Shterna Sara. May she have a Refua Shlaima immediately.
I know the staff at Fletcher Allan hospital are fantastic. When I gave birth to my CHaya Mushka Shetichye in Vermont, the nurses treated me like a queen. I hardly wanted to leave.
Yeshar Koach to the wonderful Vermont community!
Love, Rivka