· 3,500 policemen are assigned to maintain order at the atzeres
· 1,000 policemen are assigned to keep traffic moving on roads heading into the capital
· MDA has 70 ambulances operating in Yerushalayim
· Organizers report participation has reached 500,000 [at 16:55]
· Israel police reports 300,000 participants [at 16:55]
· Channel 2 TV News reports 250,000 [at 16:55]
· R’ Gafne Calls the atzeres a success, placing the number of participants at 600,000 [at 16:55]
· As a result of heavy haze conditions, police are unable to keep a chopper in the air
· EMS organizations fear the weather will result in more calls to treat patients with asthma and other respiratory illnesses.
· Public Security Minister Aharonovich praises atzeres organizers for maintain order as promised. He explains he was on a rooftop, commenting “there are a great deal of people attending”
· 17:10: MDA has treated over 25 people
· 17:23: Ichud Hatzalah has treated 31 people
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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23 Responses
Nu, 300,000 (roughly half of Israel’s charedi population) attended the ‘million man atzeres’. Not impressive.
So not only can’t Gafne understand Syug L’Chachma Shtika, he can’t count either?
Sorry #1, you got it wrong, there were over 600,000 yidden together, and a brocha was recited by one and all.
Of course the news and police are not too interested in showing the true amount of frum yidden gathered together, and will try every and any way to play down the even, but for us it was truly “Mekadesh Shem Shamoyim” & gave us chizuk.
We saw that the rabbonim can control the rock throwers and garbage can burners. Baruch hashem
1. Why are you such a hater? The rest were on the botay medroshim
Rav B.M. Ezrachi said the Brocha Chacham haRazim with Shem and Malchus and instructed all participants to do the same.
This was only decided after Chaver Knesset Gafni received assurance from the Police commander of the Jerusalem district that there were more than 600,000 people present. This based on police estimates and backed up by cell phone tracking.
WOW!! what a maamad!!! just got home. such a kiddush hashem. #1 if the non religious websites report 300,000you gotta double that. They’ll never admit. there was atleast a half a million pple there.
I was present at the levayos of R Elyashiv and R Ovadia, ztl, and i was there today. todays atzeres was by far bigger then either one. a heck of alot more then 300000.
In fact, i was standing smack in middle of this picture, near the blue sign towards the left.
Wow!at least 300,000 (roughly half of Israel’s charedi population) attended the ‘million man atzeres’.Impressive.
dkatz-
Because we fundamentally believe that physical protection alone will in no way protect Medinat Yisrael from many millions of Arabs who would push into the sea, if they could. Lomdei Torah do much more for the sake of klal yisrael than the many many “jobnikim” that officially serve in the Israeli army (including Yair Lapid who “served” as a reporter).
Looks to me that too many have totally lost their emunat chachamim, and therefore question their authority.
I also don’t always understand the rational of Gedolei Hador, but who am I to question???
I was there and can honestly say that it was a gathering to do tshuvah, not protest the army decree. (It was done in protest, but thats not what went on there). I saw people crying real tears, doing tshvah and the uplifting dancing at the end. It was like Yom Kippur a bit. Maybe even more intense.
Anyone who was there got a chizuk.
Ashrehem Yisroel!
@ dkatz: what is an “embaresment” is your Israeli spelling.
To #10:
It seems that you’re serious about your question and you are not a chareidi basher, you deserve an answer:
1. The Chazon Ish explained to Ben Gurion when B”G asked him “Would you go to war with Gemoros, or with weapons?” The Chazon Ish Zt”l answered “Its like a freezing person puts his hands on a freezing snowy day into the snow to warm himself and thanks the snow for the warmth it provided (it’s the snow that made him cold in the first place)”. The Chazon Ish Zt”l concluded “It’s the Zionism that brought upon us that we need to be armed.”
2. The Chareidim that learn are a bigger Safety that the army (like it is written “Im Bechukoisai Teilechu… Uschavtem Vain Machrid.” (it doesn’t say “Im Taasu Lachem Tzava… Ushchavtem vain machrid”…), whoever doesn’t believe that is a Kofer Batorah which is our only claim to Eretz Yisroel in the first place.
3. The Chareidim that don’t learn fully, the reason they don’t serve is not because they are afraid to be killed, it is rather because the military is a place where they will become weaker in Yiras Shamayim. The Chilonim are looking to shmad the chareidim in the army, as was proven countless times. Once a chareidi is in the army they are stripped of their rights if the commander so decides.
4. If anyone has a problem that it’s not equal share of the burden, or it’s not fair, no problem, abolish the mandatory conscription altogether. The chareidi MK’s already proved that from both, a budget point of view, and beneficial to the army that the mandatory service be switched to volunteer service like all regular modern armies in the world. The reason why the Chiloni and Dati Leumi don’t opt for that, is because FAIRNESS IS NOT THEIR OBJECTIVE HERE! GET IT INTO YOUR HEAD “FAIRNESS IS NOT THEIR OBJECTIVE HERE”… There are many different solutions here, they don’t take the chareidim into their discussions they never tried to negotiate in good faith they want to tell the chareidim what to do.
5. Last is the problem with work; first of all, a very big percentage of chareidim DO work! Second, they make it extremely difficult for a chareidi to work. A chareidi cannot joint the workforce if he didn’t do army service and as was already explained the army is CHAZER TREIF for a G-d fearing Jew. If they want the chareidim to join the workforce again abolishing the mandatory conscription would eliminate that problem too. That’s if they are concerned for the benefit of chareidim, which of course again is NOT their interest!
To finish off, one thing is clear: ALL THIS RISHUS IS ONLY TEMPORARY (as all this was already foreseen by our Nevi’im, and later by our tzadikim from the Vilna Gaon and Talmidim Zy”a and from the Baal Shem Tov and his talmidim Zy”a.)KVOID HASHEM ALEINU YIGALEH BIMHAIRA AND ALL THE BAD WILL FALL AWAY AUTOMATICALLY. HASHEM SHOULD MAKE ALL YIDEN COME CLOSER TO HIM AND DO TSHUVA WHICH WILL BRING MOSHIACH MITOCH RACHAMIM BIMHEIRA BEYOMEINU AMEIN!!!
SHALOM LECHOL HATOV SHEBYISROEL.
10,
You are correct partially. I will add to your statement that since it is a FAR BIGGER MITZVA to learn torah and be shomer torah umitzvos, that all the non frum share the burden and immediately begin learning torah and doing mitzvos like shimras shabbos.
Lets keep in mind they werent calling it a million man march like jesse jerkson that day in dc when he got only a few thousand leydigayirs. What was the heb term they used? Riboy rivovos or something? That’s an expression.
To #6: “This was only decided after Chaver Knesset Gafni received assurance from the Police commander of the Jerusalem district that there were more than 600,000 people present.” I wonder if the police commander was just making up a higher number so that many people would make a bracha lvatala… Imagine 600,000 yiddin all making a bracha lvatala at the same time, absolutely terrible.
On second thought, it’s very possible that there were closer to 900,000 people there. I wonder if even Gafni didn’t want to admit that there were so many people there, so other people don’t realize that there are close to a million people that aren’t working and that are refusing to go the army. I bet Gafni and others are trying to downplay how many people were there. This is absolutely crazy.
oy oy,,,,there was a wedding in Bayit Vegan that had very few guests….people couldn’t get through.
#11- Sometimes 300,000 is an impressive number and sometimes it is not. When you call for a ‘million man atzeres’ and have all three moetzot gdolei hatorah calling in unison (for the first time in history) on the faithful to participate, commanding ‘lech knos et kol hayehudim’, you are clearly expecting many, many more participants than 300,000. It is what it is.
#5- I don’t know where all those who did not participate were. Perhaps they were all in batei midrash, as you suggest. What I do know is that they were not at the atzeret. As for being a ‘hater’ – seriously, tol korah mibein einecha.
#7- I’m not relying on non-religious websites. I am relying on the estimate of the police who typically have the best information and the experience and who conduct calculations and don’t just pull numbers out of thin air.
#21
those of us that have witnessed the levaya of rav ovadia which was supposedly 800,000 and you saw the amount of streets were taken up from that and those of us that witnessed today. this easily reached 900,000. The number 900,000was posted on ynet before the rally even began. on these videos you only see the direction of knisat hair. There is no video here of the other kivun; down yaffo and down malchei yisroel and all the little streets. don’t work so hard in writing your points and opinions when basing it on such small evidence.
mistake: the number 300,000 was posted on ynet before the rally began.
The SADDEST thing about this event was that it was only possible when everyone promised to keep their opinions to themselves and there was no jockeying over who could or could not be put on a dais, who would say what to offend whom etc.
This atzeres only highlights the deep divisions that remain, even within one sector of the population