Mass Prayer Rally Against Expulsion Fills Jerusalem´s Old City

More than a quarter million people attended a massive prayer rally at the Western Wall Wednesday to beg their Heavenly Father to have mercy and annul the expulsion decree.

Former Ashkenazi and Sephardi Chief Rabbis Avraham Shapira and Mordechai Eliyahu, Shas Party Leader and former Sephardi Chief Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, members of the hareidi-religious Council of Torah Sages, former MK Rabbi Menachem Porush and other prominent Hassidic rabbis all took part in the massive event.

The gathering held special significance in that it marked a rare uniting of leading, influential Rabbis from the hareidi, Sephardic, and National Religious sectors together in one event.

At an emergency meeting that took place last week at his home, Rabbi Menachem Porush, a well-known hareidi-religious leader and former Member of Knesset, burst out in tears, telling those present that over the past 80 years of his life, he cannot remember a time where thousands of Jewish families were being expelled from their homes in such a manner, when 25 Jewish towns were set to be utterly destroyed, when the destruction of dozens of synagogues and houses of Torah study was to take place, as well as the desecration of Jewish graves. "Even in Russia it was not like this," he said.

"Our forefather Abraham asked for mercy on behalf of Sodom and Gemora, which were evil - appealing to G-d that there must be fifty... twenty... even ten righteous people living there," said Porush. "How much more so, when we have towns filled with Torah and yeshivas, with righteous Jews who fear Heaven, are we obligated to pray for them and for the nullification of the decree."

The attendance of the rally was so overwhelming that is completely filled the streets around the Old City with worshippers, as far away as the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood.

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Jewish worshippers gather during a prayer service at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005. Tens of thousands of opponents of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, scheduled to start on Aug. 17, gathered for a prayer service at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are permitted to pray. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
AP - Aug 10 12:51 PM
Jewish worshippers gather during a prayer service at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005. Tens of thousands of opponents of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, scheduled to start on Aug. 17, gathered for a prayer service at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are permitted to pray. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
AP - Aug 10 12:47 PM
Israeli flags fly over a large crowd of worshippers during a prayer service at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005. Tens of thousands of opponents of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, scheduled to start on Aug. 17, gathered for a prayer service at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are permitted to pray. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
AP - Aug 10 12:40 PM
Jewish worshippers gather during a prayer service at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005. Tens of thousands of opponents of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, scheduled to start on Aug. 17, gathered for a prayer service at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are permitted to pray. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
AP - Aug 10 12:31 PM
Jewish Rabbis gather over a large crowd of worshippers during a prayer service at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005. Tens of thousands of opponents of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, scheduled to start on Aug. 17, gathered for a prayer service at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are permitted to pray. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
AP - Aug 10 12:28 PM
Jewish worshippers pray during a prayer service at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005. Tens of thousands of opponents of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, scheduled to start on Aug. 17, gathered for a prayer service at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are permitted to pray. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
AP - Aug 10 12:29 PM
Jewish worshippers pray during a prayer service at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005. Tens of thousands of opponents of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, scheduled to start on Aug. 17, gathered for a prayer service at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are permitted to pray. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
AP - Aug 10 12:03 PM
Jewsih worshippers pray during a prayer service at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005. Tens of thousands of opponents of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, scheduled to start on Aug. 17, gathered for a prayer service at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are permitted to pray. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
AP - Aug 10 11:30 AM
An Israeli flag, with orange balloons, the color of the anti-disengagment movement, flies over a large crowd of worshippers during a prayer service at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005. Tens of thousands of opponents of Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, scheduled to start on Aug. 17, gathered for a prayer service at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews are permitted to pray. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
AP - Aug 10 11:22 AM
Jewish settlers pray during a mass prayer session in the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekalim in Gush Katif settlements bloc August 9, 2005. Israel will begin removing Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank next week under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to 'disengage' from conflict with the Palestinians. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Reuters - Aug 09 11:33 AM

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