Image by facebook

Frown to Smile: President Obama arrives at vigil for Newtown victims. Little Arielle Pozner later gave him a drawing of her mother smiling. Image by getty images

Amid the crushing grief of the Newtown school rampage, little Arielle Pozner provided a smile for the entire nation.

Twin Left Behind: Arielle Pozner lost her twin brother, Noah, in the Newtown school rampage. Image by facebook

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The twin sister of Noah Pozner, the Jewish boy slain in the massacre, drew a picture of their heartbroken mother with a smile on her face, the Algemeiner reported.

The 6-year-old girl, who lost her “best friend” in the senseless violence, handed the picture to President Obama after he spoke at the vigil for the victims on Sunday night.

“Obama was very kind. He thanked her and put the picture in his pocket,” Rabbi Sholom Deitsch of Chabad of Ridgefield, Conn. told The Algemeiner. “The President coming to share in their sorrow and share in their grief was really important to the family.”

Noah was the youngest victim of the rampage that left 28 people dead, including 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Arielle and an older sister also attended the school, but were in different classrooms and escaped unharmed.

Noah Pozner was the first to be buried after the attack.

The family, which moved to Connecticut from Brooklyn in search of safety and good schools, is now sitting shiva at home, the rabbi said.

Deitsch told Algemeiner he plans to spend time with the family as they mourn the loss of Noah.

“I want to just be there on a personal level, not just to be there to answer their questions, but to be there as a friend, as a person, as a human being,” he said. “That’s what’s needed the most right now, to feel that they’re not alone.”

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount