No one knew whether to expect hundreds or thousands when
revered roshei yeshiva, including the members of the
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of America, decided
on erev Sukkos to call for a Chol Hamoed outdoor
atzeres tefilla on behalf of embattled and threatened
Jews around the world.
Though the situation in Eretz Yisroel -- and the dozens of
antisemitic attacks in Europe and the United States that have
accompanied it -- were certainly weighing heavily on Jewish
hearts during the days leading up to yom tov, it was
far from certain that a large number of Yidden would turn out
to join in a communal Mincha and Tehillim
recital on the first day of chutz la'aretz's Chol
Hamoed. Not only was there precious little time to notify
rabbonim and the general public about the gathering, but a
host of daunting technical arrangements had to be made --
from arranging police clearance and security, to installing a
suitably powerful sound system, to erecting a tent for the
rabbinic dignitaries, to coordinating the press.
And yet, Klal Yisroel from throughout the New York
area (and from as far away as Lakewood and Baltimore), with
logistical assistance from the dedicated staff of Agudath
Israel of America, packed Borough Park's 15th Avenue -- from
46th Street until 50th Street, with Jewish men on one side of
the street, Jewish women on the other -- numbering, according
to police estimates, approximately 10,000 souls.
The first order of the massive afternoon gathering was
Mincha, and Rabbi Manis Mandel, the founder and
menahel of Yeshiva of Brooklyn, served as shliach
tzibbur. Davening was followed by heartfelt recitation of
selected Tehillim, posuk by posuk, responsively
with the tzibbur.
The Tehillim recitation was led by the Klausenberger
Rebbe; Rabbi Simcha Bunim Ehrenfeld, the Mattesdorfer Rov;
Rabbi Yitzchok Baal-Haness, Chief Rabbi of the Jewish
community of Shiraz, Iran; Rabbi Simcha Schustal, rosh
hayeshiva Yeshiva Bais Binyomin, Stamford, Connecticut;
Rabbi Eliezer Eichler, the Boyaner Rov; Rabbi Yekusiel
Bittersfeld, rosh hayeshiva Yeshivas Harbotzas Torah-
Zichron Schneur; Rabbi Shmelka Leifer, the Chuster Rebbe; and
Rabbi Yosef Frankel, the Vyelepoler Rebbe. Each of the
participating rabbinic personages was announced by Agudath
Israel's Rabbi Avrohom Nisan Perl.
Also present at the asifa were many other leading
rabbinic figures, including the Bluzhever Rebbe, the Bobover
Rebbe, the Rachamstrivker Rebbe, Rabbi Menashe Klein, Rabbi
Aharon Schechter, rosh hayeshiva Yeshivas Rabbi Chaim
Berlin and the Novominsker Rebbe, the Rosh Agudath Israel of
America.
Oblivious to the staccato beat produced by a police
helicopter hovering overhead, the gathering used Dovid
Hamelech's words to implore Hakodosh Boruch Hu to
protect His people from their enemies and to return His
Shechina to their midst. At the conclusion of the
Tehillim recitation, the Skulener Rebbe led the large
crowd in the kabolas ohl Malchus Shomayim that ends
Ne'ila on Yom Kippur. The roar of the assemblage at
that point was overwhelming, and will not soon be forgotten
by anyone who was fortunate to be present.
Similar gatherings took place on the first day of Chol
Hamoed as well, in a number of other American cities,
including Chicago, Milwaukee and Worcester, Massachusetts;
others took place several days earlier in cities like
Baltimore and Sacramento, California; others still were
planned for coming days, like in Dallas and Los Angeles.
In New York, it had rained lightly earlier in the day, and
the sky remained heavily overcast throughout the proceedings.
Not a drop of rain, though, fell upon the crowd, leading
Agudath Israel executive vice president Rabbi Shmuel Bloom to
note that while rain is usually a siman brocho, it is
not at all so during Sukkos.
He went on to voice his fervent hope -- the hope,
undoubtedly, of the ten thousand other Jews around him --
that the dry atzeres tefilla would signify acceptance
of the tefillos that were offered, and prove to be a
harbinger of besuros tovos for all of Klal
Yisroel.
