Hundreds of 1000’s of individuals attended the funeral Sunday of a outstanding ultra-Orthodox rabbi in a metropolis in central Israel.
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, 94, one of the vital influential students within the nation’s non secular group, died Friday. He was born in Pinsk, Belarus, and moved to what was then British-ruled Palestine as a baby. He was one of many few remaining leaders of the ultra-Orthodox group in Israel born earlier than the Holocaust and was revered by many within the Jewish non secular world.
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The rabbi was laid to relaxation Bnei Brak, the predominantly ultra-Orthodox metropolis close to Tel Aviv the place he lived. Israeli media estimated that over 350,000 individuals attended the funeral procession from his house to a close-by cemetery.
Police closed a number of highways in Israel’s densely populated Tel Aviv space to site visitors for a number of hours, and different essential thoroughfares have been anticipated to be gridlocked. Authorities urged the general public to not drive into the realm by automotive. The Communications Ministry mentioned it was anticipating mobile community outages in across the funeral because of excessive quantity, and suggested individuals to solely make important calls.
Kanievsky was one of the vital influential students within the non secular group in Israel. He died Friday on the age of 94. (AP/Ariel Schalit)
Aerial footage of the funeral confirmed monumental throngs of mourners, most dressed within the signature black fits and black hats typical of ultra-Orthodox males, filling Bnei Brak’s slender streets for blocks across the late rabbi’s home.
The insular ultra-Orthodox group makes up about 12% of Israel’s 9.4 million individuals. They adhere to a stringent interpretation of Judaism, with a give attention to Torah research and observance of custom. Prominent rabbis like Kanievsky play a major function in group life and act as arbiters in all issues.
Funerals play a key function in conventional Jewish life, and people of essential rabbis typically draw 1000’s of mourners.
Although he held no official place, Kanievsky was thought of a significant luminary within the non-Hassidic ultra-Orthodox world. He got here to public prominence in the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic when he instructed his followers that closing non secular seminaries was extra dangerous than the virus. He later walked again these claims as infections raged in densely populated Bnei Brak.
Kanievsky’s demise was revealed on the entrance pages of almost each newspaper within the nation on Sunday, from liberal Haaretz to ultra-Orthodox dailies like Yated Neeman.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett mentioned in the beginning of the weekly Cabinet assembly that Kanievsky’s demise was “a great loss to the Jewish people.” On Saturday, opposition chief Benjamin Netanyahu paid his respects at Kanievsky’s house.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
