Rabbi Elyashiv, 102, Passed Away

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv passed away early Wednesday evening. His funeral will be conducted Wednesday at 10 PM Israel time, as is the custom in Jerusalem. (Update: Police estimate over 300,000 people participated in the funeral procession).

Since the early afternoon, Israel time, Rabbi Elyashiv's condition was unstable and his blood pressure erratic. According to a report, his breathing was shallow, and he was anesthetized and ventilated.

Family members were called to stay at his bedside.

The doctors told the family that only prayers could help the situation.

Rabbi Elyashiv was the leader of the Lithuanian-Haredi community in Israel and the diaspora , and many Ashkenazi Jews regarded him as the posek ha-dor, the contemporary leading authority on Jewish law.