The unholy land
What does praying in defiled Ukraine have to do with Judaism?
Jews are descending on an Uman pilgrimage because they are bored by their religiousness. They truly want to pray with deep conviction, and if it is so very different in Ukraine, to Ukraine they will go.
If the trend were a trip to the tomb of the Gaon of Vilna, or praying at the presumed site of Moses' tomb, they would go there. Someone would certainly come up with the right chapter and verse, some rabbi would provide a promise of rewards in the afterworld for those who pray at Mount Nevo, a few wheelers would get a good charter deal, and on to the airport, up, up and away. If living rabbis leave a lot to be desired, why not worship the dead ones?
Jews in Uman at Rosh Hashana (Photo: Reuters)
Jews love to travel to Uman because they want to go with the herd (or flock), going where the wind is blowing. It is a trip abroad, but not just an idle tour. There is a sacred cause. They are going to pray and uplift their souls at the tzadik's tomb. There, they would feel they are really investing themselves worshipping the Lord, not like the ordinary folk in Israeli synagogues. Proudly they travel to Uman because, with all due respect, the Land of Israel and Jerusalem is not as sacred as Uman, Ukraine.
Spirituality at $100 an hour
The trip to Uman is part of the New Age trend - a desperate search for some new form of spirituality. The religious life of the religious is just as unsatisfying to them as the secular life for the seculars. Seeking spirituality, the seculars visit astrologers, numerologists, old tombs, reiki and shiatsu classes, and the devil knows what else.
There, they find spirituality at $100 an hour, seeking the peace that begins within. For too many observant Jews, Uman is a kind of India. Observing the rites is no longer satisfying or exciting enough for them and intellectual studies certainly do not fill their tormented soul. They are looking for something else, some anniversary that includes a trip abroad, as well as some sacrifice and inconvenience, wavering between compulsory and exciting Judaism.
Yep, they're bored. This is why the Breslovs dance on the rooftops of their vans in the streets, why some yell in forests, why they seek religious excitement. They are doing that to bolster their faith, to come closer, to be emotionally moved because becoming turned on and excited is a "do" rite, and real excitement is worth all the rites.
To promote the sacred excitement, high school kids travel to Poland to remember, and hilltop-youths seize hilltops in Judea and Samaria and live away from their parents. Everyone is looking for a thrill, for something new and exciting to hold on to - and the farther, the better.
It is too late to convince those who already bought a ticket to change their mind, but come this Rosh Hashana, many a devoted and good Jew from the Holy Land will be praying in a cemetery in pitiable exile, in defiled Ukraine. What does that have to do with Judaism?
