Israeli police prepare for mass funeral of major rabbi

Hundreds of thousands of people have participated in the funeral of a prominent ultra-Orthodox rabbi in the central Israel city of Bnei Brak

JERUSALEM -- Hundreds of thousands of people attended the funeral Sunday of a prominent ultra-Orthodox rabbi in a city in central Israel.

Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, 94, one of the most influential scholars in the country’s religious community, died Friday. He was one of the few remaining leaders of the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel born before the Holocaust. Kanievsky was revered by many in the Jewish religious world.

The rabbi was laid to rest Bnei Brak, the predominantly ultra-Orthodox city near Tel Aviv where he lived. Israeli media estimated that over 350,000 people attended the funeral procession from his home to a nearby cemetery.

Police closed several highways in Israel's densely populated Tel Aviv area to traffic for several hours, and other main thoroughfares were expected to be gridlocked. Authorities urged the public not to drive into the area by car. The Communications Ministry said it was expecting cellular network outages in around the funeral due to high volume, and advised people to only make essential calls.