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Thursday, March 24, 2005

Bobover Rebbe is mourned

Throngs of mourners filled the streets of Borough
Park in Brooklyn last night for the funeral of Grand Rabbi Naftali
Halberstam, the leader of the Bobov sect, who died yesterday at age
74.

Halberstam, who suffered a series of health problems, died at
Maimonides Hospital.

He had been ill with Parkinson's and had suffered a heart attack a
year ago.

Halberstam was "one of the most respected" Hasidic rabbis, said
community leader Isaac Abraham.

"He was one that attracted people. People would want to meet with
him, talk to him listen to him."

Halberstam took over as head of the sect following the death of his
father, Solomon, at age 92 in 2000.

They both were Holocaust survivors and the elder Halberstam led the
sect out of Europe after his wife, father and two of his other
children were killed by the Nazis.

They were buried in a mass grave in Lvov, Poland.

Halberstam helped his father establish synagogues and Hebrew schools
in New York, Canada, England and Belgium.

Thousands packed the Bobov world headquarters on 15th Avenue for the
rabbi's funeral last night. According to Jewish tradition, burial
must take place before sundown on the day following his death.

"This is a person who helped to build an empire," said Jack Wiesel,
55, one of the mourners.

"He had a short leadership in public but he was his father's right
hand man. He helped build this place from the ground up."

He was also a great spiritual leader said Chaim Langer, 37, another
follower.

"People in this community based every aspect of their life on his
teachings," he said. "It's a great loss to the community."

Mourner Goldie Palm remembered Halberstam as "a very goodhearted
person."

"He was very simple and unassuming. He led thousands of people but
had time for everybody."

The sect started in Bobova, a town in southern Poland where the
rabbi's family came from.

Comments:
Thousands mourn Bobov grand rebbe.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=14258224&BRD=1091&PAG=461&dept_id=425716&rfi=6

Another story above link.

http://www.southbrunswickpost.com

 

03/31/2005
Hasidim flock to funeral
By: Joseph Harvie , Staff Writer

Thousands mourn Bobov grand rebbe.

An estimated 4,500 mourners packed Washington Cemetery on Deans Rhode Hall Road at 1 a.m. last week in the sleet and rain to pay their respects to Grand Rebbe Naftali Halberstam, 74, of the Bobov sect of Hasidic Jews of Brooklyn.
The rebbe died at 6:30 p.m. March 23 and South Brunswick police were notified at 7 p.m. about the funeral and burial.
Police said the funeral service was held at 10 p.m. in New York and mourners began arriving in South Brunswick at around 11 p.m. The casket arrived at around 1 a.m. the crowds remained at the grave site until about 2:30 a.m.
After being notified of the burial and the large crowd of mourners that were expected, South Brunswick police implemented "contingency plans" and called all available officers to duty. Police said they also notified the New Jersey State Police and the Middlesex County Office of Emergency Management to help handle the crowds and traffic.

Police said 100 officers and 60 personnel from other emergency services assisted.
Police from North Brunswick, East Brunswick, New Brunswick, Plainsboro, Sayreville, Old Bridge, Piscataway, Spotswood, Edison, South Plainfield and Woodbridge were called for assistance.
Police said several area first aid and fire departments provided lighting. The South Brunswick Community Emergency Response Team also was activated.
According to obituaries that appeared in the New York Post and The New York Times, Grand Rebbe Halberstam died in Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn.

He suffered from Parkinson's disease and became increasingly ill last March following a heart attack, the obituaries said.
His father, Rabbi Solomon Halberstam, died five years ago at 92 and was also buried at Washington Cemetery.
Both grand rebbes were Holocaust survivors and the Rebbe Solomon Halberstam led the sect out of Europe after his wife, father and two of his children were killed by Nazis, according to the New York Post obituary.
There are approximately 10,000 Bobovers in New York and thousands more elsewhere around the world in Montreal, Toronto, Miami and London, England. The Bobovers are named after the Polish village where the sect originated.

http://www.southbrunswickpost.com

http://www.zwire.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=1091&dept_id=425716&newsid=14258224

More photos below from South Brunswick Post:


http://dennissymons.dotphoto.com

User: dennissymons

Pass: D262

 

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