Jewish pilgrims collect at a lake to carry out Tashlikh, an atonement ritual that entails symbolically casting one’s sins right into a physique of water, through the Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman, Ukraine on Monday. Regardless of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a reported 23,000 adherents made the journey, which was difficult by the grounding of civilian aviation all through Ukraine.
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Jewish pilgrims collect at a lake to carry out Tashlikh, an atonement ritual that entails symbolically casting one’s sins right into a physique of water, through the Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman, Ukraine on Monday. Regardless of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a reported 23,000 adherents made the journey, which was difficult by the grounding of civilian aviation all through Ukraine.
Pete Kiehart for NPR
UMAN, Ukraine — For all however every week a 12 months, town of Uman is like all small metropolis in Ukraine. The economic system normally revolves round a bus manufacturing facility and a few grain processing amenities.
However each fall, 1000’s of Hasidic Jews from around the globe remodel a central neighborhood in Uman to have fun Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new 12 months.
A person rests through the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman on Monday.
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A person rests through the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman on Monday.
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Hasidic pilgrims collect at a lake to carry out Tashlikh, an atonement ritual that entails praying and symbolically casting one’s sins right into a physique of water, through the Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb.
Pete Kiehart for NPR
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Hasidic pilgrims collect at a lake to carry out Tashlikh, an atonement ritual that entails praying and symbolically casting one’s sins right into a physique of water, through the Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb.
Pete Kiehart for NPR
And this 12 months, regardless of warnings from their house governments and Ukraine that the nation is underneath invasion and might be harmful, the pageant went on. The group was about half the dimensions as different years however nonetheless was round 23,000, in accordance with organizers.
Ukrainian road indicators are lined up to allow them to be displayed in Hebrew. Males flood the streets in white robes or lengthy black coats. An array of various head coverings float above the crowds, from trendy knit yarmulkes to conventional fur shtreimel hats. The few ladies who attend the pilgrimage keep separate from the boys and declined to be interviewed.
The outside of Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman on Monday.
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The outside of Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman on Monday.
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The centerpiece is the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, a Jewish mystic who preached his imaginative and prescient of a joy-filled life throughout Ukrainian lands within the late 18th and early nineteenth centuries. Followers of the Breslov custom say that the pilgrimage has gone on since 1811, regardless of a number of wars and regime modifications.
Hasidic pilgrims ritually bathe in a lake through the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb.
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Hasidic pilgrims ritually bathe in a lake through the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb.
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A person laughs whereas singing and dancing through the annual pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman.
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A person laughs whereas singing and dancing through the annual pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman.
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Hasidic pilgrims collect throughout Rosh Hashanah at a lake to carry out Tashlikh, an atonement ritual that entails praying and symbolically casting one’s sins right into a physique of water.
Pete Kiehart for NPR
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Hasidic pilgrims collect throughout Rosh Hashanah at a lake to carry out Tashlikh, an atonement ritual that entails praying and symbolically casting one’s sins right into a physique of water.
Pete Kiehart for NPR
A pilgrim performs Tashlikh close to a lake through the Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman on Monday.
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A pilgrim performs Tashlikh close to a lake through the Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman on Monday.
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Pilgrims this 12 months arrived in Ukraine overland as a result of the nation’s airports have been closed since February.
“I met any individual on the aircraft to Krakow, so all of us shared a automobile and got here collectively,” says Moishe Tisch, who’s made the pilgrimage from New York to Uman 10 instances. “You do not know if there’s going to be meals or if you are going to have a spot to sleep.”
Pilgrims cross by a big banner with a parody Starbucks Espresso brand in Uman on Tuesday.
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Pilgrims cross by a big banner with a parody Starbucks Espresso brand in Uman on Tuesday.
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A soldier wears a patch that includes a menorah whereas standing guard in Uman on Monday. “Magen Ukraina” is a neighborhood group that coordinated with regional police and tour teams to set expectations for the annual occasion.
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A soldier wears a patch that includes a menorah whereas standing guard in Uman on Monday. “Magen Ukraina” is a neighborhood group that coordinated with regional police and tour teams to set expectations for the annual occasion.
Pete Kiehart/For NPR
Others arrived through Romania, Moldova and Hungary. Some drove from so far as the UK. That was regardless of calls from the governments of Ukraine, Israel and the USA discouraging pilgrims from touring to Ukraine.
“Given the actual threats to individuals’s lives and security, the Ministry of International Affairs of Ukraine urges Hasidic pilgrims to chorus from this 12 months’s pilgrimage,” the Ukrainian authorities warned in a assertion.
Nachman Goldstein from Beit Shemesh, Israel, heart, makes use of a pal’s cigarette to gentle a brand new one in Uman on Monday. In observance of the Excessive Holidays, when lighting hearth is prohibited, believers use current flames from different cigarettes to gentle new ones. At left is Shimon Rosenblat from Monsey, New York, and at proper is Tzadok Rosenberg, from Beit Shemesh, Israel.
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Nachman Goldstein from Beit Shemesh, Israel, heart, makes use of a pal’s cigarette to gentle a brand new one in Uman on Monday. In observance of the Excessive Holidays, when lighting hearth is prohibited, believers use current flames from different cigarettes to gentle new ones. At left is Shimon Rosenblat from Monsey, New York, and at proper is Tzadok Rosenberg, from Beit Shemesh, Israel.
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Hasidic pilgrims ritually bathe in a lake through the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman on Monday.
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Hasidic pilgrims ritually bathe in a lake through the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman on Monday.
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A person leads the group in chants and songs through the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage.
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A person leads the group in chants and songs through the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage.
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“Folks pray to God and have hope in Rabbi Nachman that there will probably be peace,” stated Ruven Azran, a member of Uman’s tiny native Hasidic neighborhood. “We’d like a miracle in Ukraine.”
The closest energetic battle is about 200 miles south of Uman, although town did expertise restricted air strikes shortly after Russia’s invasion. Nonetheless, most Rosh Hashanah guests are unfazed by the air raid sirens that drown out prayers.
“We all know what warfare is. In Israel now we have wars on and off on a regular basis,” says Yaakov Breslauer, a 35-time pilgrim from Jerusalem. “We’re used to it.”
Worshipers pray in a synagogue in Uman on Tuesday.
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Worshipers pray in a synagogue in Uman on Tuesday.
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Worshipers pray in a synagogue throughout Rosh Hashanah. Many of the pilgrims visiting Uman are male.
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Worshipers pray in a synagogue throughout Rosh Hashanah. Many of the pilgrims visiting Uman are male.
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Regardless of rumors that Ukraine’s authorities may drastically scale down this 12 months’s pilgrimage, because it did within the first 12 months of the COVID pandemic, native Jewish leaders knew that devoted pilgrims would make their technique to Uman it doesn’t matter what. Earlier than Ukraine declared independence in 1991, Hasidic Jews from overseas snuck into the Soviet Union to go to Uman for Rosh Hashanah .
Nonetheless, neighborhood teams scaled up their coordination with regional police and international tour teams to set expectations for a wartime pilgrimage.
“We need to be good hosts for the Jewish guests, and make them really feel secure,” says Benjamin Khmara, a Hasidic Jew and member of Ukraine’s Particular Forces who managed logistics for this 12 months’s Rosh Hashanah .
A Hasidic pilgrim performs Tashlikh close to a lake in Uman.
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A Hasidic pilgrim performs Tashlikh close to a lake in Uman.
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Johnny Hishgozim of Israel blows a shofar through the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman on Tuesday.
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Johnny Hishgozim of Israel blows a shofar through the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman on Tuesday.
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The downsized pilgrimage did make for a quieter time than previously — to the aid of many. Although a lot of the crowds are well-behaved, some drink closely and there have been fights, brawls and arrests through the years. This 12 months, there was a principally enforced ban on alcohol and fireworks. Ukraine enforced a nighttime wartime curfew.
“It is good to be house by 11 p.m.,” says Breslauer. “You get good sleep at evening, you get up within the morning, you go to service, you pray.”
A pilgrim leaves a synagogue in Uman on Tuesday.
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A pilgrim leaves a synagogue in Uman on Tuesday.
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Uman residents have blended emotions concerning the time of 12 months when Hasidic Jews go to in droves. This 12 months, some argued that the cops guarding Uman can be finest suited on the entrance strains of the warfare in opposition to Russia.
Whereas organizers tout the financial infusion guests convey, town authorities has stated guests put a pressure on native utilities. In recent times, Ukrainians have complained the pageant doesn’t truly feed a lot cash into the native economic system as a result of a lot of it’s managed by journey companies primarily based outdoors Ukraine. A dozen high-rises stand in varied states of development alongside the pageant hall, with “on the market” signage in Hebrew.
However others welcome the pilgrims’ annual presence.
“Their prayers are priceless,” says Nazar Bondarenko, an Orthodox Christian who’s known as Uman house for over 4 many years. “It would not matter what they consider, as long as they need peace and good well being for your complete world.”
Hasidic pilgrims dance and sing in a circle through the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman on Monday.
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Hasidic pilgrims dance and sing in a circle through the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman on Monday.
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Pilgrims have fun in Uman on Tuesday.
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Pilgrims have fun in Uman on Tuesday.
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A person prays close to a lake through the annual pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman on Monday.
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A person prays close to a lake through the annual pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s tomb in Uman on Monday.
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