Although I did not know the Sassoon family, I feel as if I would like to do my own small dedication in the memory of the children killed in this horrible tragedy. And so I will write in a way I can relate, using science.
Fire: friend or fiend? The multifaceted nature of fire has beguiled mankind from our early days on this earth. While it can be used to beautify a room with candles, or for fulfilling mitzvot such as lighting candles on Friday night, it also casts a deep and ashy shadow. Many a forest has succumbed to wild fires, and many tragedies due to arson or accident lie at the mercy of fire’s powerful properties. These properties, among others, should be explored and exposed in the hopes that knowledge will mitigate its risks.
According the ancient Greeks, fire was one of the major elements, along with water, earth, and air. However there is one main difference between fire and the other elements: while other elements are made up of millions of atoms and are all forms of matter, fire is not—rather, it is the product of matter changing form. It is the result of a chemical reaction between oxygen and some fuel. The fuel can be found in many different forms, for example, in wood.
In order for combustion to occur, the fuel has to be heated to its ignition temperature. At around 150 degrees Celsius, the heat causes the decomposition of the cellulose material that makes up wood. Some of this decomposed material is released as gas—known as smoke. Smoke is composed of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen molecules. The rest of the decomposed material is primarily composed of carbon atoms, seen in the form of char. This leaves behind the materials that cannot burn, known as ash. When the gases released are hot enough, these compounds in the wood can break down and the atoms can then combine with oxygen to form carbon dioxide, water, and other products—in a process known as burning. As a side product of these chemical reactions, heat is released, and it is this very heat that is what sustains the fire.
The burning process is considered an oxidative process as atoms are combining with oxygen. Oxidation is the same kind of chemical reaction that occurs when iron rusts. However, the major difference between a fire and rusting is that the rusting of iron is a very slow process where the heat energy released is very low. In contrast, a fire burning is a much faster reaction that releases a larger amount of energy. Specifically with objects such as paper, or wood, this oxidation rate occurs extremely fast.
The direction of fire, on earth, is determined by gravity. The hot gases from the flame are less dense and much hotter than the air surrounding it and as a result fires move upwards towards the lower pressure area.
Fire, a powerful force respected since ancient times, “taps something ancient and vital in each of us, something both snarling and reverential,” as Caroline Paul, an American writer says.
The First and Second Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed and left in ruins, covered in ashes. So too, this March 2015, we have lost a mini-Temple in the form of seven beautiful Jewish souls.
May the remaining family have a complete recovery, and find comfort amongst the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, and may those killed have an aliyah for their neshamas.