One million people were estimated to be descending on central Israel Sunday for the funeral of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, a leader of the haredi Orthodox community. Some 3,000 Israel Police officers were deployed to maintain order, amid concerns of a deadly crush similar to the 2021 incident in Meron in northern Israel on Lag B’Omer that killed 45 and injured 150. The funeral is scheduled for noon on Sunday.
Most highways leading into central Israel and in particular Bnei Brak, where the rabbi lived and where the funeral is set to be held, were closed to traffic. Trains and buses from all parts of Israel are crowded with people, most wearing signature black hats and suits, heading to the funeral. Mourners began arriving in Bnei Brak on Saturday night, sleeping in parks and on benches.
Kanievsky, 94, died on Friday after feeling ill for several days. Resuscitation attempts by paramedics on the rabbi, who collapsed at his home, were unsuccessful.
“Rabbi Kanievsky’s death is a great loss to the Jewish people,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement. “His name will be remembered as an important part of Torah history of the people of Israel. The funeral will be a mass event, and we must make sure that it does not end in a mass disaster. The trauma of the Meron disaster is still fresh in all of us, this tragedy must not be repeated. I ask everyone for personal responsibility, to look after the children in particular,” Bennett continued.