This is the chutzpah today of those who think a rabbi is bigger, better, stronger than others. "The funeral was delayed....in order to allow the public to participate in the mass funeral." Delay for family members to attend? Yes. Delay to make a spectacle? Motivated by baser reasons.

I would like to say that someone who refers to ynet for Halacha or Jewish custom is a simpleton of the highest degree, but you are proving it pretty well yourself. When a great public figure dies it is customary - out of respect for the COMMUNITY who wish to pay their respect - to delay the funeral for a while in the same way as is done for relatives. But of course, some people will jump at any opportunity to knock the religious community or their rabbis...

#1 you are nuts. it takes a real crack pot to find something negative about this particular story.

honey will not escape being stung by bees. A person who gathers roses will not escape being scratched by thorns." "I (Knesset Israel) am a rose of Sharon, a rose of the valleys." "As a rose among the thorns (nations), so is My beloved (Israel) among the daughters (nations)." Song of Songs 2:1-2 Even though the nations seek to entice Israel to whore after their idols, she remains faithful to God (Rashi). The positive things in life also have negative aspects. Keep your focus on the beautiful roses of the world, and the thorns will seem trivial and inconsequential (Daily Lift by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin at Aish.com). For the conductor on shoshannim,* of the sons of Korah, a maskil a song of loves. *Psalm 45 was founded in honor of the Torah scholars, who are as tender as roses and as beautiful as roses, and perform good deeds as fresh as roses. It is a song of praise for the Torah scholars, to endear them to the people, and to endear their Torah to the people (Rashi on Ps. 45:1). Their words flow with the sweet nectar of Hashem’s love, and we should seek out their council. (Rabbi Yitzchok Rubin, Tehillim: Rhythm of the heart Ch. 45 at Torah.org). Torah For Our Time http://azamra.org/ With embroidered garments, she (Israel) will be brought to the King, and virgins (the nations) in her train who are her companions will be brought to You. Psalm 45:15, Isaiah 66:20, Zech. 8:20-23

like a rose, and it shall strike its roots like the Lebanon (i.e., the Temple and cause them to prosper). Its branches shall go forth, and its beauty shall be like the olive tree, and its fragrance like the Lebanon. Those who dwelt in its shade shall return; they shall revive like corn and blossom like the vine, its fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim; What more do I need the images? I will answer him and I will look upon him: I am like a leafy cypress tree; from Me your fruit is found. Hosea 14:6-9 In days to come shall Jacob take root, Israel shall blossom and bud; and the face of the world shall be filled with fruitage. Isaiah 27:6 The love verses in the Song of Solomon describe the relationship between G-d and His People. Our love starts as a tender bud, blooming into a radiant, exquisite rose. It then takes flight, soaring to the heavens, as we rejoice togther in our complete and perfect love (Ellen Miller Braun). Art from the Biblical hills of Samaria http://www.nishmati.co.il/ May Your dead live, 'My corpses shall rise;* *The corpses of God's righteous people who made themselves corpses/Martyrs for My sake, they shall be raised up. awaken and sing, you who dwell in the dust, for a dew of lights is your dew,* *The dew of Your Torah and Your commandments shall be to them dew of light. and to the earth You shall cast the slackers.* Isaiah 26:19 *And to the earth and to the dust You shall cast the land of (sic) the slackers who slackened their hands from Your Torah. "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake…" (Daniel 12: 2). This refers to the resurrection of the dead (Rashi ad loc.) – as well, of course, to the tremendous spiritual awakening and the widespread return to the Torah that we witness in our time- -among Israelite souls that in some cases have been buried in exile and cultural alienation for centuries. This itself is the revival of the dead!

the saying of David the son of Jesse, and the saying of the man raised on high, the anointed מְשִׁיחַ (moshiach) of the God of Jacob, And the sweet singer of Israel. The spirit of the Lord spoke in me, And His word was upon my tongue. The God of Israel said, concerning me spoke the Rock of Israel; 'A ruler over men shall be the righteous (man) (ADAM-TZADDIK), he that rules in the fear of God. And as the light of the morning (when) the sun shines; a morning without clouds,* *And he assured me that my greatness would increase constantly like the light of the morning that grows ever brighter. more than the light that follows the rain that falls upon the grass of the earth. 2 Samuel 23:1-4 As it is said: His (David's) seed will be forever and his throne is like the sun before Me. Psalm 89:37 In Psalm 72 an aged king David turns over his unfinished work to his son and prays for his success. May there be an abundance of grain in the land, on the mountain peaks; may its fruit rustle like Lebanon, and they (Israel) will blossom forth from the city like the grass of the earth. May his name (Solomon) be forever; before the sun, his name will be magnified, and [people] will bless themselves with him; all nations will praise him. Blessed is the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who performs wonders alone. And blessed is His glorious name forever, and His glory will fill the entire earth. Amen and amen. Psalm 72:16-19 For lo, the sun comes, glowing like a furnace, and all the audacious sinners and all the perpetrators of wickedness will be stubble. And the sun that comes shall burn them up so that it will leave them neither root nor branch, says the Lord of Hosts. And the sun of mercy shall rise with healing in its wings for you who fear My Name. Then will you go forth and be fat as fatted calves. And you shall crush the wicked, for they will be as ash under the soles of your feet on the day that I will prepare, says the Lord of Hosts. Malachi 3:19-21 A foot shall trample it, the feet of a poor man (the Moshiach, is referred to as a poor man riding on a donkey (the Tribes, Zech. 9:9, Gen. 49:8-12)., the soles of the impoverished (Israel). Isaiah 26:6 Behold God [has] a strong and powerful [wind], like a downpour of hail, a storm of destruction, like a stream of powerful, flooding water, He lays it on the land with [His] hand. With the feet, they shall be trampled, the crown of the pride of the drunkards of Ephraim. Isaiah 28:2-3 Hast thou entered the treasuries of the snow, or hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail, Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? Job 38:22-23, Psalm 18:9-16, Ezekiel 38:18-23 Of those who die by Your hand, O Lord, of those who die of old age, whose share is in life, and whose belly You will fill with Your hidden treasure (secrets of the Torah), who have children in plenty and leave their abundance to their babes. I will see Your face with righteousness; I will be satisfied with Your image upon the awakening.* Psalm 17:14-15 *I will be satisfied from seeing Your face when the dead awaken from their sleep, for they are in the likeness of Your image, for so it is stated (in Gen. 9: 6): “For in the image of God, He made man.” For He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, (Joel 2:13) As G-d clothes the naked... (Isaiah 58:7-14, Ezekiel 18:5-17) as G-d visits the sick... (Genesis 18:1) as G-d comforts mourners... (Isaiah 57:15-18, 61:1-3, Psalm 147:2-3), - so are you to do also. It is in this sense that the Torah describes Man as having been Created in God’s image and in the likeness of angels, holy ones. To Whom Was God Speaking to When He Said, "Let Us Make Man in Our Image"? http://www.outreachjudaism.org/genesis1-26.html