Sunday’s funeral for a respected rabbi in Israel drew half a million mourners dressed in traditional ultra-Orthodox garb, turning the streets of Tel Aviv’s religious suburb into a raging black sea.
The roads of Bnei Brak were filled with men and boys in black suits – one of the largest gatherings in Israeli history – mourning Belarusian-born Chaim Kanievsky, who died Friday at the age of 94.
Dividing the huge crowd, dozens of police officers formed a phalanx around the van with the rabbi’s body as the car crawled towards the Bnei Brak cemetery.
“[Kanievsky’s] death is a huge loss for the Jewish people,” Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett wrote on Twitter.
Police estimated the crowd at about half a million people, one of the largest gatherings in Israeli history.
Born in present-day Belarus, Kanievsky was the de facto head of what is commonly referred to as the Lithuanian branch of ultra-Orthodox Judaism, and his knowledge of Jewish law was so revered that his rulings were thought to require full observance within his community.
Respected Haredi Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky passed away at the age of 94 on March 18, 2022. Picasa
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews accompany the body of leading Israeli ultra-Orthodox rabbi Chaim Kanievsky during his mass funeral in Bnei Brak March 20, 2022. EPA/ABIR SULTAN
Ultra-Orthodox Jews carry the body of renowned Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky. REUTERS/Avshalom Sassoni
Police estimated the crowd at about half a million people, one of the largest gatherings in Israeli history. Photo by AP/Oded Balilti
Kanievsky was one of the most influential scholars in Israel’s religious community. Photo by AP/Oded Balilty
Orthodox Jews gather around the remains of Haredi Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky before his funeral at the Ponevezh public cemetery in the city of Bnei Barak near Tel Aviv. MENAKHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish girls pray during the funeral procession of prominent Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky. REUTERS/Amir Cohen
He was known to some followers as “our teacher, the Prince of the Torah”, embodying the laws and traditions of the religion. Benjamin Brown, a professor of Jewish thought at the Hebrew University, told AFP that Kanievsky “became an authority figure almost against his will.”
“I cried when I found out he was dead,” said Shlomo Lugassi, 41, who had previously unsuccessfully tried to fight his way through the crowd to the late rabbi’s apartment.
With mail wires