Death and Burial
During the Russo-Japanese War many of his young followers were drafted into the Russian Army and sent to the battlefields in Manchuria. The Rebbe was very worried over these devotees and would constantly write to them. His health suffered, and he died at the age of 57 on 11 January 1905 (5 Shevat 5665).
"When news of the Admor's petirah (passing away) spread, so many people rushed to Ger yesterday morning that although the railway dispatched extra trains there was hardly any space in the cars and thousands of people were still left without means to travel...
"One (tram)car with seating for 44 people held over 200, not even leaving any standing room, and in another car some people fainted as a result of the overcrowded conditions...
"When the time for tefillas Mincha arrived, all of the funeral-goers, 20,000 in number, stood in a field and davened Minchah together...
"The brief words spoken by the Rav of Sochachov made a powerful impression."
Read more about this topic: Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter
Famous quotes containing the words death and, death and/or burial:
“Death and taxes and childbirth! There’s never any convenient time for any of them!”
—Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949)
“half-way up the hill, I see the Past
Lying beneath me with its sounds and sights,—
A city in the twilight dim and vast,
With smoking roofs, soft bells, and gleaming lights,—
And hear above me on the autumnal blast
The cataract of Death far thundering from the heights.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809–1882)
“How shall my animal
Whose wizard shape I trace in the cavernous skull,
Vessel of abscesses and exultation’s shell,
Endure burial under the spelling wall....”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)