In critical condition for weeks, top rabbi takes turn for the better

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, leader of the Lithuanian Haredi community, awoke Sunday from his coma and began to react to his surroundings, according to several media reports citing hospital officials.

The nearly 102-year-old Elyashiv was hospitalized two weeks ago at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem for heart failure and fluids in his lungs. He was in critical condition for several days until his condition, though still life-threatening, became stable on Sunday.

The religious luminary’s ailing health has caused great anxiety among the members of his community in recent days, and has been the subject large prayer gatherings.

The rabbi is surrounded by family and hundreds of his students, and prayer sessions are being held across the country in a bid for his recovery, Haredi website Kikar Shabbat reported recently.