The followers of the ailing Rav Ovadia Yosef hung up gigantic posters reading “We love you, Maran (Master)” on skyscrapers in Jerusalem. And the proof is in the pudding – shortly after they hung them up, Maran started breathing on his own and appears to be recovering.
The power of advertising.
Back in 1993-4 I was covering the last days of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and I have to say, the Chabadniks did not think to hang up building-size love notes to help their master recover. They had those yellow posters covering every window and most car windows with the call for Moshiach and his picture, but that was too complex, if you ask me. It’s a well known thing that an ad can’t sell two things effectively. You either say you want him to recover or you say you want him to lead the world to eternal peace, but not both.
Religious sentiments can be so intimate, so personal, fragile and hidden in the very folds of the soul.
Or they can go up on tall buildings. Whatever works…