The Viznitzer Rebbe has died at 8:30 a.m. Friday, March 16 2018 triggering a rite of burial that brought thousands of mourners to the village he helped carve along Route 306 in Monsey as a refuge from the temptations of the wider world.
There are an estimated 5,000 New York families in the Viznitz Hasidic sect, part of a group of about 30,000 people, and Hager's influence extended far beyond his own community. Thousands packed the streets around the Viznitz synagogue on Friday, most of them walking, some piling out of school buses. The men in traditional black hats and long coats took up prime spots on the muddy hill next to the rebbe’s home overlooking the synagogue’s main steps, or on another hill just north of the synagogue, which became a sea of Viznitz Hasidim.
Vantage points with a view over the throng were at a premium. Young men stood on pieces of construction equipment scattered around the compound. Two boys stood atop an ambulance. Women huddled in the parking lot, milling about and chatting quietly. Others stood on long staircases that led to their front doors. Children peeked from windows. All wanted a glimpse of the man who was the only grand rebbe many of them had ever known, a man who was descended from rabbis, and related to rabbis.
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Aerial Footage
Sunday, March 18, 2018
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