100,000 Hasidic Jews arrive for Brooklyn funeral of Holocaust survivor rabbi, 95, who hated internet so much he banned smartphone owners touching his coffin
Enormous crowds lined the streets to pay respects to revered rabbi Yisroel Avrohom Portugal
BROOKLYN'S streets were filled with an estimated 100,000 Hasidic Jews yesterday for the funeral of a rabbi who was famous for his hatred of the internet.
Mourners with smartphones in their pockets were banned from touching the coffin of 95-year-old Holocaust survivor Yisroel Avrohom Portugal.
Portugal was leader of the Skulen Hasidic dynasty founded by his father, and was known for denying himself a bed to sleep in or more than one meal a day.
He also battled against modern perils such as the internet and reputedly set fire to a television set each year on the eve of Passover.
One of the last surviving remnants of the pre-Holocaust generation - a leader that was deeply respected by all.
Assembly Member Simcha Eichenstein
The rabbi, known as the Skulener Rebbe, was born in 1924 in what is now Moldova and followed his father and grandfather into religious study.
The family moved to the Ukraine to escape the Nazis, then returned to Bucharest in Romania - where the Communist regime reportedly jailed the father and son for teaching Torah and helping Jewish children.
UN officials helped them flee to the US in 1960.
Rabbi Yisroel Avrohom took over as head of the dynasty after his father Eliezer Zusia Portugal's death in 1982.
He died aged 95 on Monday surrounded by family at Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore.
The need to transport his body to Brooklyn meant the funeral could not take place the same day, as is the custom.
Assembly Member Simcha Eichenstein said: "As a community we mourn the petira of the Skulener Rebbe zatzal, one of the last surviving remnants of the pre-Holocaust generation - a leader that was deeply respected by all.
"Rabbi Portugal was a truly inspiring and special individual that we should all aspire to be like."
He had five sons who are all rabbis and three daughters who married rabbis.
It is understood eldest son Yeshaya Yaakov Portugal will succeed him as leader.
Rabbi Yisroel Avrohom Portugal, who has died aged 95, was known for his hatred of the internet and television
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