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50,000 Jews Gather To Daven In Lower Manhattan
by Yated Ne'eman Staff
Under leaden skies heavy with the promise of rain, more than
50,000 Jews from across the Orthodox spectrum gathered in
Lower Manhattan this Sunday to recite Tehillim and
pray for the safety and security of Jews in Israel, where
violence against innocent men, women and children has been
perpetrated with sickening regularity, as well as in other
countries where antisemitic attacks on Jewish citizens and
institutions have markedly increased.
The rain held off, though, as the streets began to fill, the
seemingly endless column of mispalelim fanning out
from the intersection of Water Street and Hanover Plaza, the
men's section -- a sea of black hats, knitted yarmulkes
and baseball caps -- running north almost to the Brooklyn
Bridge, the women's section running several blocks south to
the Battery. It held off as the designated baal tefilloh,
Rabbi Zyshe Heshel, stepped up to the bimah at
2:45 to begin the Mincha service, held off through the
repeated, thunderous chants of "Omen" and "Yehei
Shmei Rabbo." Throughout the responsive recitation of
eight chapters of Tehillim, the rain held off.
Yet the weather was apparently the last thing on the minds of
participants.
"It's a tremendous zchus just to be here," said one
man, an attorney from Brooklyn. "It feels so good being part
of this huge gathering, demonstrating support for our fellow
Jews in the way Jews have always been taught to show
support."
"Coming together to daven in these kinds of numbers is
the ultimate expression of solidarity," was the way a woman
in the crowd put it. According to the event's organizers, the
gathering indeed represented one of the largest unified
recitations of Tehillim in modern history. In addition
to the Manhattan assembly, which drew men, women and children
from throughout the Greater New York area, New Jersey,
Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Maryland,
parallel programs -- many with live-telephone hookups to the
proceedings in New York -- were held in at least 35 other
cities including Atlanta, GA; Baltimore, MD; Boca Raton, FL;
Chicago, IL; Cincinnati, OH; Detroit, MI; Edmonton, ONT;
Lakewood, NJ; Memphis, TN; Montreal, QUE; Phoenix, AZ;
Portland, OR; Scranton, MA; and Silver Spring, MD.
For yet another participant, the kiddush Hashem
created by the dignified and respectful conduct of the
massive crowd was one of the most awe-inspiring aspects of
the assembly. "You have so many people in one place and
practically the only sounds you hear are the sounds of
tefilloh. That kind of decorum has to make a positive
impression."
That impression was only reinforced during the event's final
moments when, after the roar of thousands of voices raised in
reciting "Hashem Hu HoElokim" -- the final words of
the kabolas ohl malchus Shomayim that ends Ne'ila
on Yom Kippur -- died down, the crowd slowly and quietly
dispersed.
And then, a soft rain began to fall.
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