Bnei Brak – Tens of thousands of haredim flocked to the central city of Bnei Brak on Tuesday morning to take part in the funeral of Rabbi Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz, one of the leaders of the Lithuanian-Orthodox faction and head of Ponovezh Yeshiva.
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Lefkowitz died at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem on Monday night, two days after collapsing, (as was first reported here on Vos Iz Neias).
The funeral departed at 10:30 A.M. from the Rabbi’s home at Vilkomirer Street in Bnei Berak.
Police closed down several streets for the event. Due to the heavy heat, the Hatzalah organization handed out water to the public. Police estimated the crowed between 80,000 to 100,000.
The funeral procession began with the reciting of Psalms. Senior ultra-Orthodox rabbis paid their last respects to Rabbi Lefkowitz, including the Rebbe of Ger, the Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman and Hasidic “posek” Rabbi Shmuel Wosner.
In his will, read at the hospital on Monday night, the deceased asked that his two sons be the only ones to eulogize him and that they refrain from praising him too much. His son said that the rabbi treated each student like his own son, and remembered the questions each person asked him, including details on where the person stood when he asked the question.
Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger said Monday night that “the world of Torah has lost one of its central pillars. The rabbi was one of the generation’s greatest scholars, who was a genius in all treasures of Torah. His modesty and humility were an example to us all.”
Photos: B’Hadrei Haredim, Kikar, EPA, AP
Bde. This is so scary. He was so incredibly special. Oy.
Yehi Zichro Boruch.
I know what #1 means about it being scary. We lost some gedolim in early 2001. The Chafetz Chaim left the world in 1933. What I’m saying is, sometimes Hashem takes the holy ones before something terrible happens here on Earth, or maybe something terrible here on Earth happens because the merit of these holy ones is no longer among us. It’s no small loss, and it is reason to fear. But so is our spiritual state something to fear anyway, so “worry” is the appropriate emotion indeed.
whats scary is that Rav koppelman was JUST nifter now this godol . They were old but we need them !!! some one once mentioned that they”ve heard of such stories nebech after a census when a country takes a census of its people its not good . we should NOT WRITE ” JEWISH ” WHEN filling out the card
its so sad we got to do teshavah
Its scary that we have lost a guiding light, who will now guide us through the thick darkness of this bitter black golus??
people are blaming the zman ein hora. Its the whole klal yisroel fault we are doing what we not supposed to be doing we are living in a world of dirt how can mesiach come we do need him so many tragedys happening
if u have nothing good to comment about dont comment we dont need to be blogged by ppl thar are bored think of something nice to add do so but nething else keep to yourself ppplllzzz.they were walking the niftar some hindred thousand ppl (did u read how many ppl attended?) EVER SAW JEWISH LADIES SHOOPING AT A SALE IT LOOKS WORSE!!!!
I had the zchus to be at the levaya. It was a tremendous kiddush Hashem. Re: Note 11. There was no pushing except to facilitate hatzolo. The women had their own street. Children were running around with bottles of water and plastic cups for the tzibbur. The atmosphere was befitting the tzaddik that we lost.
One of his sons shared how he came from an “ordinary” home of baalei batim (who spent all their money on their sons chinuch…) and concluded that greatness is not inherited but is in our hands…