Zürcher Nachrichten - Sea of ultra-Orthodox attend Israel rabbi's funeral under heavy guard

EUR -
AED 4.288018
AFN 79.960491
ALL 97.655834
AMD 447.991031
ANG 2.089265
AOA 1070.536389
ARS 1466.010684
AUD 1.774673
AWG 2.104298
AZN 1.989113
BAM 1.948021
BBD 2.358681
BDT 142.052765
BGN 1.954873
BHD 0.440054
BIF 3480.601501
BMD 1.167433
BND 1.493935
BOB 8.101649
BRL 6.45999
BSD 1.168135
BTN 100.037537
BWP 15.565844
BYN 3.822935
BYR 22881.692399
BZD 2.34653
CAD 1.599121
CDF 3369.212857
CHF 0.931081
CLF 0.028903
CLP 1109.131781
CNY 8.37668
CNH 8.370812
COP 4688.061845
CRC 589.147457
CUC 1.167433
CUP 30.936982
CVE 110.614641
CZK 24.642994
DJF 207.476327
DKK 7.461288
DOP 70.282823
DZD 151.516417
EGP 57.795885
ERN 17.511499
ETB 158.041295
FJD 2.61651
FKP 0.859421
GBP 0.862062
GEL 3.163585
GGP 0.859421
GHS 12.172506
GIP 0.859421
GMD 83.47586
GNF 10105.302712
GTQ 8.974165
GYD 244.404062
HKD 9.164217
HNL 30.762193
HRK 7.531349
HTG 153.267981
HUF 399.054413
IDR 18942.422263
ILS 3.870863
IMP 0.859421
INR 100.254385
IQD 1529.337604
IRR 49163.53233
ISK 142.812139
JEP 0.859421
JMD 186.684544
JOD 0.827685
JPY 171.492461
KES 151.182498
KGS 102.091773
KHR 4694.249027
KMF 492.073956
KPW 1050.678224
KRW 1606.855277
KWD 0.356897
KYD 0.973513
KZT 606.020082
LAK 25134.838563
LBP 104602.022084
LKR 350.918735
LRD 234.654211
LSL 20.698243
LTL 3.447127
LVL 0.706169
LYD 6.298301
MAD 10.509823
MDL 19.765075
MGA 5171.7296
MKD 61.513833
MMK 2451.086777
MNT 4187.3557
MOP 9.445583
MRU 46.346608
MUR 53.071115
MVR 17.981869
MWK 2027.250221
MXN 21.798238
MYR 4.971509
MZN 74.668855
NAD 20.698468
NGN 1786.896443
NIO 42.902987
NOK 11.790972
NPR 160.05986
NZD 1.941435
OMR 0.448883
PAB 1.168135
PEN 4.139675
PGK 4.81537
PHP 65.933107
PKR 332.133115
PLN 4.256895
PYG 9053.846801
QAR 4.250157
RON 5.078568
RSD 117.149625
RUB 90.598648
RWF 1674.099332
SAR 4.378468
SBD 9.720618
SCR 17.133342
SDG 701.04933
SEK 11.117426
SGD 1.496083
SHP 0.917419
SLE 26.273855
SLL 24480.496562
SOS 667.187612
SRD 43.624632
STD 24163.511975
SVC 10.221185
SYP 15178.886357
SZL 20.699111
THB 37.973688
TJS 11.302069
TMT 4.097691
TND 3.384065
TOP 2.734243
TRY 46.898725
TTD 7.932325
TWD 34.173688
TZS 3070.349466
UAH 48.892665
UGX 4186.28362
USD 1.167433
UYU 47.460484
UZS 14782.626389
VES 132.43128
VND 30481.683088
VUV 139.442741
WST 3.2116
XAF 653.348095
XAG 0.031207
XAU 0.00035
XCD 3.155047
XDR 0.811849
XOF 651.427065
XPF 119.331742
YER 282.343854
ZAR 20.755195
ZMK 10508.302466
ZMW 27.364729
ZWL 375.913042
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Sea of ultra-Orthodox attend Israel rabbi's funeral under heavy guard
Sea of ultra-Orthodox attend Israel rabbi's funeral under heavy guard

Sea of ultra-Orthodox attend Israel rabbi's funeral under heavy guard

An estimated three quarters of a million ultra-Orthodox Jews attended the funeral Sunday of influential rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, known to followers as the "Prince of Torah", with Israeli authorities warning of dangers from massive overcrowding.

Text size:

The streets of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv were packed with a sea of men and boys in black suits mourning for the Belarusian-born Kanievsky, who died Friday aged 94.

A separate women's section was created in the streets of Bnei Brak for the funeral that the Magen David Adom, Israel's equivalent of the Red Cross, said was likely to be one of the largest ever gatherings in "Israeli history".

"I cried when I heard he was dead," said 41-year-old Shlomo Lugassi, who had earlier unsuccessfully tried to push his way through the masses to reach the late rabbi's apartment.

Thousands of police and paramilitary officers as well as volunteers were deployed to provide security for the funeral held 11 months after a disaster at Mount Meron, an ultra-Orthodox pilgrimage site where 45 people died in a stampede.

"The trauma of the Meron disaster is still fresh for all of us. We cannot repeat this tragedy," Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said before his weekly cabinet, describing Kanievsky's death as "a great loss to the Jewish people".

Police estimated the crowd size at 750,000, roughly eight percent of the Israeli population.

Rescue workers said several people suffered minor injuries, but a major crush had been avoided as Kanievsky's body was brought to the cemetery for burial.

- 'Our master, the Prince of Torah' -

Kanievsky was the de facto head of what is commonly called the Lithuanian branch of ultra-Orthodox Judaism, and his knowledge of Jewish law was so revered that his rulings were thought to require total compliance within his community.

To some followers, he was known as "our master, the Prince of Torah", comprising the religion's laws and traditions.

Benjamin Brown, a professor of Jewish thought at Hebrew University, told AFP that Kanievsky "came to be a figure of authority almost against his own will".

"He wanted to keep learning and studying Torah (quietly)" but accepted a leadership role to help heal rifts within the Lithuanian haredi community, Brown said.

Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jews, or haredim, are split among various factions and groups, but Kanievsky was seen by some as a unifying figure.

Aryeh Deri, a political leader and rabbi from the Sephardic haredi group -- which has its roots in southern Europe and North Africa, rather than the Middle East -- told Israel's Channel 11 that Kanievsky transcended "definition".

Despite his prominence, Kanievsky lived in a modest Bnei Brak apartment, where religious texts lined the walls of a small study.

His notoriety within Israel and abroad surged in 2020 when he was accused of encouraging followers to ignore social distancing restrictions and continue gathering to study Torah.

Widespread resistance among some haredim to respect restrictions, including orders to close schools and houses of worship, fostered deep resentment among mainstream Israeli society.

Yaakov Kanievsky, the rabbi's grandson and top advisor, told AFP at the time that the rabbi had not been not seeking to appear "defiant" in response to Covid lockdown rules.

But he stressed that for a prominent haredi rabbi like Kanievsky, limiting viral transmission could not be not be the main consideration.

"For the rabbi, the most important thing in the world is the study of Torah. Without that, there is no point to anything," Yaakov Kanievsky told AFP in November 2020.

"The rabbi believes that the Jewish people have no existence without Torah. You can't separate the two, you must study."

Brown also noted that Kanievsky's strong public support for Covid vaccinations was crucial to ensuring haredim accepted the jab.

O.Hofer--NZN