לרפואת כ"ק אדמו"ר מבאבאו אין די פרעסע
 מצורף קובץJews pray for ill rabbi at his father's grave
Published in the Home News Tribune 3/19/04
By RICK MALWITZ
STAFF WRITER
SOUTH BRUNSWICK: Members of the Bobov sect of Hasidic Jews of Brooklyn have been coming in steady numbers to the grave of Rabbi Solomon Halberstam to pray this week, after his son, Rabbi Naftali Halberstam, suffered a heart attack Saturday
We've come here because this is a holy place," said Rabbi Ben Reich, after offering prayers just prior to sundown yesterday.
Reich explained that the 73-year-old Halberstam, who has Parkinson's disease, was hospitalized in critical condition following the heart attack.
"The timing is right for us to come here," Reich said.
Officials of the sect have been in contact with the South Brunswick Police Department this week in anticipation of the burial of the rabbi at the Washington Cemetery on Deans Rhode Hall Road, which is expected to draw thousands of sect members.
When the elder Halberstam was buried here Aug. 2, 2000, police estimated the number of mourners at between 7,000 and 10,000. The sudden influx of traffic caused township police to declare a state of emergency.
Seven days later about 3,000 sect members returned when the rabbi's headstone was unveiled. With more advance notice, police were better prepared for the crowd.
According to Jewish tradition, burial must take place before sundown the day following a death. However, burials will not take place on the Jewish Sabbath, which begins at sundown on Fridays.
"We've been making plans on how to meet that challenge," said South Brunswick police detective Jim Ryan. The department has been speaking with sect leaders since Saturday, and, as it did in 2000, plans to coordinate traffic and crowd-control plans with other departments and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority.
According to Ryan, members of the sect have been coming to the site to pray this week. Reich said a large group planned to come on a bus last night to offer prayers.
Schlomo Halberstam and his son came to the United States following World War II. The two were the only members of their family to survive the Holocaust.
The elder Halberstam became the leader of the Bobov sect of Hasidic Jews, which now has separate schools for boys and girls, and a rabbinical college in Brooklyn. The sect also has schools in Canada, England and Holland.
Following the death of his father, Naftali Halberstam became the sect's leader. A plan of succession is not in place, said Reich. "We are praying for his health. We don't think of the future," he said.
הטקסט שלך כאן
תוקן על ידי - ekstein - 19/03/2004 19:53:39
 |
|
|
