Prayer Rally Marked 15 Years Since the Death of Rabbi Michal Yehuda Lipkovitz

A prayer rally and outcry was held on 26 Sivan at the gravesite of Rabbi Michal Yehuda Lipkovitz, marking 15 years since the death of the famed yeshiva leader, Rabbi M. Y. Lipkovitz. The gathering was aimed at asking for salvation for yeshiva students facing persecution, a cause the article says was central throughout his life.

The event drew many yeshiva students. Leading the prayers was his eldest son, Rabbi Moshe David Lipkovitz, the spiritual director of the Be'er Yaakov and Meshkonot HaTorah yeshivas and rabbi of the Heichal Moshe community in Bnei Brak. His son, Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak, a senior figure at Beit Midrash Elyon, recited the Kaddish.

Psalms were recited verse by verse amid concern over the situation by his grandsons, Rabbi Yitzhak Shaul Kanievsky and Rabbi Yoel Maklev, rabbi of the Pardes Katz Center. At sunset, just before the plea of the 13 Attributes of Mercy, Rabbi Moshe Mizrahi, head of the major yeshiva Nachalat HaTorah in Bnei Brak, blew the shofar to stir heavenly mercy.

After the general prayer, a special service was held with dozens of students from Mizrahi's yeshiva, ahead of the start of construction on its permanent building in Bnei Brak. Rabbi Moshe David Lipkovitz then said a special blessing for the yeshiva, saying that his father had long hoped for protected Sephardic yeshivas and had labored for that goal. He added that the late rabbi would certainly advocate for the institution as it follows his path.