Baltimore, MD – Teenage passenger of Friday mornings accident, as was reported first here on VIN News, passed away on tisha b’av night, motzei shabbos.
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Baltimore Fire Department and Baltimore Hatzolah responded to the motor vehicle accident which happened on the corner of Park Heights and Slade Avenue, when a vehicle crashed into a tree pinning the passanger Chananya Backer O”H inside the vehicle.
The 20-year-old driver of the vehicle hasn’t sustained any serious injuries but his passenger 16-year-old Chananya Backer was seriously injured and transported by Maryland State PD chopper to U Of MD Shock Trauma Center.
The Levaya is scheduled for 3:00PM at the Sol Levinson Chapels on Reisterstown Road near Mt. Wilson Lane.
shenishba venisbasa besores tovos!
oi nebech!
der oibershter zul upheaten
Did they used to live in L.A. ?
Yes they lived in LA
Is he frum
leib says, is he frum!! does it matter!! if he isnot does leib feel better!!
This picture obviously is at least three days old. The kid is 16 and hes drinking a beer in a public location in BMORE. He died bc his driver was drunk and he was out partying at six in the morning. Wake up Baltimore! Open your eyes and do something!
to the anony above, i wonder if you have any kids, I believe you dont from the comments you say, do you realize that at 16 there is so much a parent can do,
His parents are wonderful people. Does it make anonymous feel any safer to ascribe fault? O course his parents are crying as is all k’lal yisroel. You should wake up enough to realize that tragedies happen to children with the best parents and the blame implied in your comment, on T’isha B’Av yet, serves no purpose.
To RUCHY W.:
I believe you were trying to say “do you realize that at 16, there is JUST so much a parent can do”
and you are 100% right!
The more you do at 0 – 15, the more you can do at 16.
STOP THE BLAME! STOP THE SHAME! For G-d’s sake it’s Tisha B’Av!! When will we learn? Can’t we stop with the Rechilus & Loshon Hora for just ONE day???
Don’t any of you get it? Am I living in my own little world? Isn’t there anyone out there who has a clue as to what you’re all doing? Ask your Rabbaonim & Gedolim, show them the comments, and ask if what is said here and on other places is ok ANYTIME, let alone on Tisha B’Av. They would NEVER say these words are OK. And those of you who are holding back simply because it’s Tisha B’Av…why are you so careful today? Tomorrow’s another day so it’s OK then?.
What kind of day is it for this poor family & other families, including the family of RaRav Fishman Zt”L? You would NEVER malign his holy neshama, would you?
In the end, we all go to Kevura in exactly the same way. There’s a reason for that. A yid is a yid & we, as Klal, should cry over every petira. We shouldn’t pick and choose who is more worthy of our tears and who chas v’sholom isn’t.
We must make changes if we want to see Moshiach and why not start today, now???
May the A-mighty have pity on OUR souls. Those who are no longer here B’Guf are in a much better place. It is we who need the pity and the blame.
The death of any yid is a tragedy. The death of a young one is even more so. This was a good kid. Not a perfect kid, but at heart a good kid. May his family be comforted with the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem. May we all be zoche to a time where no family’s child dies in such a horrible senseless tragedy.
I don’t think the comment above was objectionable. Based upon the facts given, perhaps the death was preventable, making it all the more tragic.
If there are ways to improve the community and prevent further tragedies, they should be pursued, rather than screeching about “lashon hora” and “rechilus” when those don’t even necessarily apply here.
As an aside – we all need to learn the laws of “lashon hora” and rechilus, and know the appropriate do’s and dont’s. Just throwing those terms around indiscriminately has led to much tragedy – just ask the victims of abuse and molestation.
To the anonymous idiot.
Adam harishon had problem children.
avraham had yishmael and Yitzchok had eisav.
For you to come on a blog after the kid just died and start blaming towns and parents is mind boggling
Just came from levayah. As was so beautifully stated, each child is a pearl. If they have trouble fittimg in,then we need to do more to help them. Parents do all they can, and we all need siyata dishmaya that it should work.
5:13 if you are gelernt in the Dinim of Loshon Hora, Rechilus etc, please educate the rest of us.
baruch dayan emes we all, (parents), feel your pain TO ALL YOU ABOVE, (COMMENTATORS), don’t look to give advice such as should have, could have, etc. the parents are suffering don’t U think THEY did all they could. It’s ALL in HBHU’S hands & we have to accept it whether we like to or not
I am NOT scared to post my full name. I find the comments made at 3:17 to be absolutely disgusting! How horrible for a parent to bury their child and then find someone putting blame on them??? I truly hope for the whoever was too scared to put their own here that Hashem will have rachamim on THEM! Never, ever judge someone. Just hope and pray that you are not ever in their situation.
My son was friends with him, and he was a good boy. There are plenty of things that every community can wake up about. I think that the poster who couldn’t even put his/her own name should maybe work on their middos first before they go judging other people.
My heart goes out to this family who has suffered tremendously, both before he died and now after.
Boruch Dayan HoEmes, Its tisha b’av rabbosai, we all know the medrash in gittin that say the Bayis Sheini was destroyed through sinas chinam, so we have particularly makpid on l”h und gantze mitzvos ben udom l’chaveiroi in this parshas haz’man of the year
i hope all of his friends and peers learn a lesson from all of this and dont get into a car if the driver is drunk.
My heart goes out for your family. Such a tragedy, r”l. May you have only simchas in the future. Please overlook all the inappropiate comments / speculations. Klal Yisroel is with you at this difficult time. Boruch Dayan Emes.
Emotions and valid points are being mixed here.
#1 This is a terrible tragedy for the parents,friends the baltimore community, entire klal Yisroel esp. the ones who found out about this case.
#2 Hashem knows when someone’s time has come and nothing can be done to change that.
#3 Although everything is in Hashem’s hands, it is also our job to try to do whatever we can do protect ourselves and our children.
As a complete outsider living in NY who found out about this on line I would like to add the following though.
Parents, teachers and comunity leaders have an obligation to make sure kids do not have a need to get drunk anytime. They have to realize that not everyone’s fun consits of understanding a shvere sugya. Such kids should have ‘fun’ different ways. But that fun should be watched carefully (from a distance) to make sure it doesn’t let the kids do things that they will forever regret. So NO alcohol, NO drugs. Sounds simple but doesn’t seem to be in real life.
IF in this specific case there are people who know they could have done something to prevent this, I’m sure they feel horrible now that they didn’t. Pointing fingers therefore has no use. If anything it will cause more pain to people who loved him and tried hard to keep him out of trouble.
no he isn’t frum, he is dead. does it make a bloody difference is he was frum.
the driver wasn’t drunk, the guy who hit them was
people do good to help others. the fish net cant catch all the fish but the fisherman hope for a better day the next day. GOD BLESS THE FAMILY
Mrs. Paley, good for you!!
to shaul mitten baltimore id like to correct you:
the driver was drunk, there was no other car involved in this accident
You hope his friends learn a lesson??
The lesson here is for THE WORLD!
Chananya passed away on tisha biav, the day in jewish history when we, as a nation suffered the worst of tragedies…cant you see there is a message here for everyone! We need to love, accept, and reach out to one another so that every kid out there will make better decisions, because they know there is a world out there that loves them, and values them…please see that each and every person needs to take their own lesson from this!
Anon 3:17 wrote: This picture obviously is at least three days old. The kid is 16 and hes drinking a beer in a public location in BMORE. He died bc his driver was drunk and he was out partying at six in the morning. Wake up Baltimore! Open your eyes and do something!
B”H the first picture (highly objectionable) was removed. This was a good kid, terrific parents. Nu, they struggled. Who doesn’t? Sometimes kids do stupid things. Adults here, raise your hand if you never ever did a stupid thing when you were a teenager (or an adult). Hands, anyone? Sorry, I can’t see your hands. Hashem is perfect, we are humans who struggle. So, a little compassion, stop being sanctimonious, as a way of making yourself feel better/less vulnerable, and be a little bit more humane, a little bit more humble. This could happen to anyone, but it didn’t, it happened to them. But it is a wake-up call for the oilam, this is a korban tzibbur. So instead of ragging on the parents/the community, etc. what are YOU gonna do about it? You gonna be a little bit less judgmental, a little bit nicer or understanding, a little bit warmer to the kid who maybe does not LOOK the way we think that they should? What about looking inside, rather than the outside? This was a great kid, who was a hard worker, kovodik, and learned b’chavrusa on a regular basis. Truly a tragedy. So nu, folks, are we gonna do what the rabbonim said in their hespedim? Be warmer, be more understanding? Or are we gonna continue to stay on our high horse, looking down our very big noses at those very human beings who struggle? Yes, another Tisha B’av, and apparently we have not learned yet about Ahavas Chinam. Shame. Yes, Baltimore should wake up, as should NY, Lakewood, Chicago, LA…. Another Tisha B’av, and apparently we have not learned yet about Ahavas Chinam. Shame.
i am 15 years old and i just wanted to say that words cannot explain how disgusted i am about sum of these posts!(from adults!?!?)
one wud think that on tishabav ppl wud have more sachael!!!
chananya backer was my friend! it dosent matter how or why he died or if he was frum. OPEN YOUR EYES…CHANANYA Was a Jew!!!
And I dont think any of you Yenta’s have the right to say that “this is a message from hashem that we shud do this and that” ,for no know’s hashem’s reasons for these types of things.
This is the first and Meratz hashem the last tishabav that had such an impact on me..
BARUCH DAYAN EMET!!!
Many people have asked the question: what are we to do? Some have suggested being warmer; more understanding. Um, no.
How about we find a way to curtail the rampant abuse of teens. I’m not saying that these parents are at fault. That said, in general, responsibility starts with the parents. Responsible parents need not avoid discussing alcohol and its ramifications with their children, assuming that such a malady could never befall their children. These discussions must be had; people need to know about alcohol, its potential dangers, and ways in which it can be imbibed responsibly.
Sorry, the above should read, “How about we find a way to curtail the rampant ALCOHOL abuse of teens.”
here we go again some one passes away and you people sit here saying who is at fault every thing here is according to god
and you should except it and question it and ask him why and don’t blame the kids parents or his friends
baruch dayan haeme. this is such a terrible tragedy.
yes his peers should learn a lesson. i don’t mean to judge any of them, but this precious kid died cause of an irresponsible drunk driver.
however it is not only the teenagers that must learn from this , all of us should be careful not to drive if we have had a drink by a simcha etc…
and above all we must only show our love and care for the kids in our community’s who are going on the wrong path.
Yes, everything is according to God. So, I guess that means we should never see a doctor when we get sick…after all…it’s all according to God! Come on, we all realize that Hashem is the one in charge, but it is incumbent upon all of us to do what we can to prevent these things. It’s less about blaming people for this particular instance, and more about doing what we can to prevent this in the future.
I believe that parents are not always in control of their children. Look what is going on in the best of families that have 10 or more children and all of them grow up perfect and one is a black sheep. Can we say it is the parents fault? The most we can say is that this specific child needed some special care and the parents were not aware of it or they were aware but it was not in their control. Even in a family that has more than one child that does not follow in the parents footsteps, a lot of times one child follows in the footsteps of his older sibling and it is not in the control of the parents. Let us take a moment to think of the pain and anguish of parents who know that their children are out in the street up to no good. And cannot sleep, toss and turn a whole night until sighing in relief that their kid came home alive. We need to feel for the parents and start to work with these kids. A lot is being done but it is not enough. Let us put together a task force to figure out how to deal with the kids. We are busy making baalei teshuva but don’t realize how many are falling off the back of the wagon.
Baruch Dayan Emets! now that I have said that. What the difference if the boy is frum or not and how old is he.. We just ended a fast where we shouldnt judge one another and compare and everything leads to loshon hora. Its sad a life is taken away and the parents are suffering his loss.
Why do people always have to ask stupid questions and think they are better then others. a JEW is A JEW.
You know I read about such things happening in the non Jewish world, and even then it hurts when young lives are snuffed out, even more so when the niftar was one of ours. Boruch Dayan HoEmes.
i hardly knew him
but he was an amazing person, always smiling and had somethig funny to do or say
i still cant register what happend i feel like he is still walking around in his little hat making ppl laugh and smile
The knowlage that alcohol was a factor in this tragedy does not lessen the tragedy or give any of us a feeling of safety. It does however remind us to teach ALL our teens well and is also a lesson to the to the teens reading this blog that freinds don’t let freinds drive drunk.
If one kid late one night has the guts to be a man and and save a freind then maybe the publicising that this young neshome tehora died in this this way is not a bad thing.
(The other real factor is the future life of the driver nebach who might find it easier to do teshuvah and live a productive life if it were kept quiet) hakotev bedema – may we here no further tzaros in klal yisroel
msg to NotUnderstanding this wall is for the memory of Chananya backer like i said b4 ppl shud have more sachael b4 they rite s/t like that…
please.
alot of ppl are taking this loss to klal yisroel very seriously if u want to discuse ur b-more issues please do it on a different page
may his neshama have an aliya.
I am not Jewish so please forgive me if I am not knowledgeable of all that is written here. I am only posting because a woman I consider a friend, even though I have never met her, is grieving. The only posts here should be condolensces and prayers for that young man and his family and friends. All else is shameful. My thoughts and prayers are with his friends family and community.
Im the guy that posted the original comment, Im from Baltimore and I am married with kids. I want to start off by saying that I was in no way blaming the parents for what happened. I apologize if my words came out that way, whuch apparently they did.My wake up call is to the people living in baltimore. The Rebbeim in TA and principal Shapiro in BY, and of course the kids. The community turns a blind eye to whats happening in town from Tov Pizza to the pool hall. I know of a story where BY backed a girl who was hanging with the bad crowds in BMORE over her own parents, they did this without consulting anybody. The town has no leadership and there are houses opening up all over town where kids are doing drugs and drinking and no one is stepping up. NOW A KID DIED , what are you going to do Baltimore, nothing? make a levaya and forget? that was my point. A leader has to emerge and do something in that city. I have worked with kids at risk in almost every city in the US and baltimore is by far the worst. Nebach this beutyful boy has lost his life and I know nothing will be done. This will happen again and again because that is baltimore. NWCP and that is all they have done in thirty years
Paysach, it seems like you are not taking this seriously. You know that according to many baalei musar the idea of saying it was min hashamayim that chananya died is incorrect. R’ Avigdor Miller ZT”L says many times in his speeches that you cannot blame hashem for every thing bad that befalls a person. The person has the responsibility of protecting himself and acting in a responsible way so as not to get injured or killed. It is very tragic that chananya was killed and yes it is a decree from shomayim but who is at fault? ALCOHOL. Paysach wake up and be responsible. I don’t know who you are but I really hope that you take this as a very strong lesson and let this tragic event open up eyes to many teens and maybe chananyas petira will go a long way to prevent other accidents to happen as this one.
for all those questioning all the parents in town, this isnt at all against the Backer fanily bc they did all they could here. There was a girl in town who threw a party thursday night in Baltimore and all the boys were drinking at this party. Where were the parents of this girl? These are things that are out of control in baltimore The boys left from this party and the accident happened. WHERE ARE THE PARENTS ??
i am so sickened. a yiddishe child was niftar LAST NIGHT and the comments being made are making me sick. yes maybe there is a problem. yes maybe we need to do things but save ur comments! not everything needs to be done bshas meisea, kol sheken on TISHA BAV!!!! i am really shocked. let the niftars family and friends mourn him properly and we can save the disscussions for after shiva. the meis deserves kavod
As in Lakewood, Baltimore has a yeshiva ,Ner Yisroel that is the eye of the orthodox community. Maybe the Roshei Yeshiva should step up to the plate and do something about this epidemic. There are some very choshuve people there as Hagaon R’ Aron Feldman. I am sure that he can deal with this creating a commitee of rabbonim and priniples to handle the situation. In Lakewood, typically, R’ Matisyahu Salamon would head such a commitee and I know that he is personally involved in kids at risk. R’ Aron Feldman is an odom godol who is suitable to head a comittee to rid baltimore of this terrible disease.
LISTEN TO THIS – s0me of u poeple who write on her or serioslt sick. cold hearted . i ask my self if u r real people at times. do u realy have familys? how can u write this. its sick. u must stop n think,,,wut ur doin and wut ur writing…wud u say this in person? do u think this is any different b.c ur anonymos …No Body is anonymos from our creater,,, and yes even on these blogs…….our lord knows and whaches everything…the feer of haven shall be upon u like the fear of flesh and blood.