Rav Lefkowitz of Blessed Memory
Rav Lefkowitz of Blessed MemoryScreenshot

Tens of thousands of people took part Tuesday morning in the funeral procession of Rav Michel Yehuda Lefkovitz, who was the Head of the Ponevezh Yeshiva  Letzirim (yeshiva for younger men) and a member of the Council of Torah Sages (Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah) of Degel HaTorah. 

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.
 
The Rabbi died Monday at the age of 97 at Shaarei Tzedek Hospital in Jerusalem. He was transferred at 11:00 P.M. to his home in Bnei Berak where a multitude received it with cries of pain. At the synagogue in the yeshiva he headed, the “parochet” curtain was removed from the Torah Ark as a sign of mourning.
 
Mourning the Rabbi Monday / Flash 90.
 
The rabbi requested that only his two sons 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. 
 
Mayor of Bnei Berak said Tuesday morning that police expect between 60 and 80 thousand people at the funeral.
 
Rav Lefkovitz was a student of Rabbi Shlomo Heiman and of the Chazon Ish. He published Chiddushei Rabbi Shlomo, the teachings of Rav Shlomo Heiman.
 
The rabbi was hospitalized on Shabbat in critical condition after he lost consciousness during the third Sabbath meal, Seuda Shlishit.
 
Rabbi Lefkowitz was considered one of the greatest sages of his generation by the Lithuanian hareidi-religious stream. Two weeks ago he was hospitalized at Ma'aynei HaYeshua hospital in Bnei Brak but was released after he felt better.