Tens of thousands of people participated Tuesday afternoon in the funeral procession of the head of the Ponevezh Yeshiva and the leader of the Lithuanian-Ultra Orthodox sect, Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, who died Tuesday morning at the age of 100. The funeral procession began with the recitation of the Psalms recited by the Rabbi's son Zatzal at the Ponevezh Yeshiva hall and ended with his burial at a cemetery in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak.

The funeral procession was secured by thousands of policemen from the Tel Aviv district, a need that arose after it was clear that crowd control would pose a severe problem. When his body was taken out of the yeshiva hall, there was a rush of the crowd to the point that lives were put in danger and a police spokeswoman asked the crowd "not to push, there is a public danger when the body was being removed. Also, do not climb on roofs and fences."

🕍Spiritual leader #Rabbi Gershon Edelstein dies with thousands attending funeral.🧔‍♂️

🎧Listen to our podcast: https://t.co/ZyAmviyAC9 pic.twitter.com/ZJHUOCqu20

— Israel Daily News Podcast (@IsraelPodcast) May 30, 2023

Dozens needed medical treatment after they were dehydrated or bruised from being forcibly pushed by the crowd, Hatzalah volunteers along the route of the funeral treated some and others were taken to emergency clinics that were rapidly set up for the event. The president of the Ponevezh Yeshiva, Rabbi Eliezer Kahaneman, eulogized at the funeral: "We are now about to say goodbye to our teacher and rabbi, not only me, all of the people of Israel are saying goodbye, especially the yeshiva. There has not been a single day since the yeshiva opened that Rabbi Gershon was not there. Either as a student or as a teacher. His life was pure and stuck to the Yeshiva and Torah learning, until the very last moment."

"Yesterday he taught a lesson in a hospital. Today he started writing the outline of the lesson he wanted to teach today and in the middle of the lesson his heart stopped. He will continue to teach the lesson in 'Mativta Darki'a' (Aramaic for the righteous path), everything is one continuation."

Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, who passed away in Israel this week at the age of 100, was a a veritable bridge builder, an advocate for coexistence between religious and secular Israelis, and is being mourned across the country.

May his memory be a blessing.https://t.co/RKz6ChA0GC

— World Jewish Congress (@WorldJewishCong) May 30, 2023

His son-in-law, Rabbi David Levi, also gave a eulogy: "I have no words to speak. A man who was always only with spirituality and went up and up. He prepared a lesson and kept going up. As long as he was around we saw examples from the rabbi, as soon as he left, he behaved with the same leadership. It's hard for me to speak in the past tense, your whole life was to make students who would be both in study and godly and good manners with each other, he didn't hurt a fly, he worked on it all his life.”

Rabbi Baruch Mordechai Zarichi also gave a eulogy: "Our Rabbi Maran is gone, he was a righteous man and a leader. He held two precious positions; the position of head of the yeshiva of the generation and the position of the leader of the generation. But it should be known that he did not give up the position of the head of the yeshiva here, as it is With marvelous perfection, he always continued to be head of the yeshiva in all its implications."

Saddened to hear today of the passing of my friend, Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, a spiritual leader to hundreds of thousands. I just saw him a couple of weeks ago. It was an honor to have known him. May his memory be a blessing. pic.twitter.com/VIe1CoQ3Jh

— Ambassador Tom Nides (@USAmbIsrael) May 30, 2023

As the leader of the Lithuanian-Ultra Orthodox sect, Rabbi Edelstein was also the spiritual leader to the 'Degel HaTorah' political party which currently sits in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition. Much of the public policy the party endorsed came from the Rabbi's edicts and teachings.