Hundreds of Ponevezh talmidim gathered late at night at the kever of the Ponevezher Rav, Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman zt”l, in Bnei Brak, for a large tefillah gathering amid renewed uncertainty surrounding the future of their yeshiva.

The gathering took place at the Ponevezh cemetery, where talmidim associated with the yeshiva led by Rav Shmuel Markovitz assembled near the resting place of the legendary founder of Ponevezh in Eretz Yisroel. A report ahead of the gathering said hundreds were expected to participate.

Footage from the gathering shows a large crowd packed around the kever late at night, joining together in tefillah.

The gathering comes at a particularly sensitive moment for the yeshiva following the latest development in its decades-long internal dispute.

Last month, the Tel Aviv District Court rejected an effort to overturn an arbitration ruling concerning the Ponevezh campus, leaving in place a decision with major implications for the faction associated with Rav Markovitz.

The underlying arbitration ruling ordered Rav Markovitz's group to vacate the Ponevezh campus and barred the group from continuing to use the Ponevezh name.

Against that backdrop, the talmidim turned to tefillah at the kever of Rav Kahaneman, who rebuilt Ponevezh in Bnei Brak after the destruction of the original yeshiva and Jewish community in Europe.

The nighttime gathering included emotional tefillos, with the crowd reciting “Avinu Malkeinu” and davening for the difficulties facing their yeshiva to be resolved.

Video from the scene captured the large turnout and intense atmosphere as the talmidim stood together around the kever.