On Saturday, police said they expected hundreds of thousands of people to attend the funeral procession for Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky in Bnei Brak on Sunday.
With crowds gathering in the Tel Aviv suburbs, major highways had to be closed, and heavy traffic jams were expected throughout central Israel. Police urged non-appearing members of the public to avoid roads if possible.
In light of the anticipated workload, many schools in central Israel have notified students that they will be conducting classes remotely on Sunday.
Israel Railways also urged the public to avoid unnecessary travel, warning that “emergency crowds” are expected during the day.
Some 3,000 IDF Home Front Command police, medics and soldiers were expected to be involved in and around the funeral, which was scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. from the rabbi’s home in Bnei Brak and end in the predominantly ultra-Orthodox community of the city of Ponevezh. cemetery.
Get The Times of Israel Daily by Email and Don’t Miss Our Top Stories
By registering, you agree to the terms
The attendance was expected to be the same or higher than the funeral of former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in 2013, when up to 850,000 people attended. If it exceeds this number, it will be the largest funeral in Israeli history.
The event was expected to last around 15 hours and many major roads and highways around the Tel Aviv metropolitan area were to be closed. During the day, traffic disruptions are expected on the 2nd, 5th and 6th highways.
Highway 4 will be partially closed from 7 am, and the blocked section will be used by the police as a bus station for people entering and leaving Bnei Brak.
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky in the northern Israeli city of Safed, February 26, 2020. (David Cohen/Flash90)
Police expect traffic to return to normal only around 20:00.
Public Security Minister Omer Barlev said the funeral was “an event that we have not yet experienced.”
Tel Aviv Deputy Police Chief Shlomi Sagi told Channel 12: “Traffic congestion will double or triple. Our main message for tomorrow is this: tomorrow the Tel Aviv agglomeration will be at an impasse.”
According to the Walla news site, police officers were concerned that the event could be very dangerous. In 2015, during the funeral of Rabbi Shmuel Wozner, severe overcrowding caused two people to be crushed to death.
The funeral also comes less than a year after the Mount Meron disaster, when 45 people died in a stampede during the Lag B’Omer festival, the worst civilian disaster in Israel’s history.
Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai (no mask) conducts a readiness assessment on March 19, 2022 ahead of the mass funeral of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky. (Israel Police)
During an assessment on Saturday, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett ordered ministries in the center of the country to allow only essential workers to work.
Kanievsky, who died Friday afternoon at the age of 94, was a highly influential leader of the non-Hasidic Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community in Israel with hundreds of thousands of followers and a descendant of rabbinic dynasties known for his elite study of the Talmud.
Do you appreciate The Times of Israel?
If yes, then we have a request.
Every day, our journalists strive to keep you up to date with the most important events that deserve your attention. Millions of people rely on ToI for fast, honest, and free coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
We care about Israel – and we know you do too. So today we have a request: express your appreciation for our work, joining The Times of Israel communityan exclusive group for readers like you who appreciate and support our work financially.
Yes, ladies Yes, ladies Already a member? Sign in to not see this
You are a devoted reader
That’s why we launched the Times of Israel ten years ago to provide astute readers like you with must-read articles about Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we have not set up a paywall. But because the journalism we do comes at a cost, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to support our work by joining us. Israeli Community Times.
For just $6 a month, you can support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel. AD FREEas well as access exclusive content available only to members of the Times of Israel community.
Thanks,
David Horowitz, editor-in-chief of The Times of Israel
Join our community Join our community Already a member? Sign in to not see this