Thousands attend funeral of ultra-Orthodox leader
Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, leader of the Vizhnitz hasidic movement, died on Tuesday night
Ultra-Orthodox mourners surround the body of Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager at his funeral in Bnei Brak on Wednesday. (photo credit: AP/Oded Balilty)
JERUSALEM (AP) — The spiritual leader of the second-largest Hasidic community in Israel, Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, has died. He was 95.
Hager died Tuesday and was buried Wednesday in the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak. The funeral drew tens of thousands of mourners from his community and other Hasidic groups.
The ultra-Orthodox rabbi presided for 40 years over Vizhnitz, the second-largest Hasidic dynasty in Israel. He also served as president of the Council of Torah Sages, the decision-making body of Agudath Yisrael, a political arm of ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Vizhnitz, founded in the mid-19th century, is named for a village in present-day Ukraine. Hager was its fifth leader.
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