Police thought fewer would show up to Pittsburgh Rebbe funeral; no arrests

5 October 2020, 6:32 pm

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A police spokesperson tells Channel 12 news that authorities had believed only 300 people would attend an Ashdod funeral for the head of the Pittsburgh Hasidic dynasty, and not the thousands who eventually showed up.

The spokesperson says 200 police were there to enforce rules, and blames the mass disobedience on the family and attendees.

Police and ultra-Orthodox Jews during the funeral of Pittsburgh Rebbe Mordechai Leifer in the city of Ashdod on October 5, 2020. (Flash90)

A police statement says the force shut down the eulogy part of the funeral when it saw that “attendees did not keep to emergency protocols regarding social distancing.”

“Police who had been prepared for the event dispersed the masses and there was no need for arrests,” it says.