Over 1,000 ultra-Orthodox pilgrims are already in Uman, Ukraine, and some 50 charter flights have been booked to carry more before the Jewish holidays, according to reports on Hebrew media Wednesday night.
Many ultra-Orthodox Jews are planning to make the annual pilgrimage to the tomb of Rabbi Nachman in the city of Uman, although Ukraine and Israel have warned pilgrims not to come this year because of the ongoing war with Russia.
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Jewish pilgrims preparing to depart from Ben Gurion Airport to Ukraine
(Photo: Dani Sade)
Last month, the Ukrainian embassy in Israel said that because of the invasion, all tourists are banned from the country and that celebrations for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah - marking a new year in the Hebrew calendar - which falls this year in late September, are "uncertain."
Several outlets reported that charter flights would take pilgrims to Moldova, and then the pilgrims would try to reach Ukraine by land.
Rabbi Nachman was an eighteenth-century luminary and founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement. The town of Uman, where the rabbi's grave is located, typically receives about 30,000 visitors, mainly from Israel, during the Rosh Hashanah holiday. Other pilgrims also arrive from other Jewish communities around the world.
Leaders of the Jewish community in Uman have stressed that the city is far from the front lines and that a safe arrangement can be found for the pilgrimage.