Ukraine's Uman readies for Rosh Hashanah, awaiting tens of thousands of pilgrims
Illustrative photo: Rosh Hashanah celebration to take place in Uman (RBC-Ukraine)
Celebration of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, in Ukraine's Uman will take place this year despite rumors of its cancellation. More than 45,000 pilgrims are expected to arrive to pray at the grave of Tzadik Nachman, this was announced by Anastasia Baryshnikova, PR director of the International Charitable Foundation named after Rabbi Nachman, according to Suspilne.
Baryshnikova refuted information circulated in some media and on social networks claiming that the celebration had allegedly been officially banned.
It is known that this year, Hasidic Jews will begin celebrating the New Year on the evening of September 22 and will continue until the evening of September 24, marking the beginning of the year 5786 according to the Jewish calendar.
"I want to officially deny the information spread by certain media outlets around the world that the pilgrimage has either been canceled or banned. This is not true; no official decisions have been made regarding this," she noted.
The PR director added that preparations for the arrival of pilgrims in Uman are ongoing.
"This year, we expect about 45,000 people. We are inspecting the condition of shelters and purchasing food. Any pilgrim or Uman resident can come at any time to have coffee or water. We are also purchasing books and various ritual items. The list is very extensive," Baryshnikova explained.
In turn, Iryna Rybnytska, executive director of the Historical and Cultural Center of the City of Uman charitable foundation, said that preparations for the Jewish New Year have been underway for almost a month.
"We are facilitating communication between pilgrims and the Ukrainian side. A special web resource has been created, which contains the rules and all the details of the annual pilgrimage. We also make it easier for pilgrims to access the territory and ensure communication on site. A special hotline has been established, and support is provided to all services and organizations within their requests," Rybnytska noted.
Uman Mayor Iryna Pletniova also emphasized that all services are preparing for the arrival of pilgrims.
"We are holding meetings on preparations for celebrating Rosh Hashanah. The State Emergency Service is checking the availability of shelters and their compliance with regulations, while the housing and utilities department has ordered additional restriction signs and is preparing for enhanced cleaning of the area. Overall, all services are on alert," she summed up.
Pilgrimage to Uman
Every year, tens of thousands of people travel to Uman for the Jewish New Year to visit the grave of the Hasidic sage Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, who lived at the turn of the 19th century. This year, the celebration of Rosh Hashanah falls on September 22.
Last year, Ukraine called on Hasidim to refrain from making the pilgrimage, but tens of thousands of pilgrims still arrived, crossing the border through Moldova. At the same time, the local authorities of Uman agreed to receive the pilgrims with certain restrictions.
Earlier this year, The Times of Israel reported that due to the full-scale war and constant Russian attacks, the Ukrainian authorities had allegedly decided to ban the annual Hasidic pilgrimage to Uman.
However, just a few hours later, Israel denied reports that Ukraine had banned the Hasidic pilgrimage to Uman for Rosh Hashanah.
