Estimates of the Sunday Levaya of the Sar Hatorah, Maran Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky ZATZAL, have ranged from 600,000 to one million.

Despite being a day of sadness and Aveilus, the Levaya was a Kiddush Hashem, due to the fact that such a massive number of people packed into a a few blocks, and there was virtually no pushing or shoving. Emergency personnel reported relatively few minor injuries for a crowd of this size.

Police are being hailed for their outstanding work in ensuring the safety of the crowd, as more than 3,000 police officers were brought into Bnei Brak. Also adding to the exceptional behavior of the crowd were pleads from Gedolim such as Rav Chaim’s brother in law, Hagaon HaRav Yitzchak Zilberstein who did something rare, and went in front of TV and radio microphones and called on Klal Yisroel to not attempt to get close to the Aron.

Photos below via David Zer for YWN, video via Shiezoli.

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