The Ukrainian Embassy issued a press release on Friday saying that due to the ongoing war with Russia, those who are hoping to make the annual pilgrimage to the grave site of Rabbi Nachman in the city of Uman during the High Holidays will be unable to do so.
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The embassy explained in a Facebook post on Thursday that High Holiday celebrations in Ukraine this year remain "uncertain."
"Planning to visit Uman for Rosh Hashanah? Because of the Russian war in Ukraine, visitors won't be able to enter the country," the embassy said in a Facebook post.
"Due to concerns for the lives and well-being of the visitors to Ukraine and in light of the blatant Russian war in our country, despite all efforts, we can not guarantee the security of pilgrims and do not currently allow tourists and visitors to enter Ukraine," Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel Yevgen Korniychuk told Orthodox media outlets in Israel.
"On this occasion, we address you, because your prayers are important to us. Please pray that before Rosh Hashanah, the war in Ukraine, which broke out due to blatant and cruel Russian aggression, will come to an end and pray for the victory of Ukraine. We hope that the prayers will be fulfilled and that Ukraine will once again be a country that generously receives visitors from Israel, and especially Jews who come to Ukraine to visit the graves of the righteous.
"We are confident, that after the end of the war, which we are bringing closer by our struggle, the situation will change. We expect that our other partners, in particular Israel, will help to bring the peace closer with their resolute support for Ukraine."
The grave site of Rabbi Nachman, the founder of the Breslov Chassidic movement, is in Uman, which draws thousands of Jewish visitors annually.
Natan Ben-Nun, chair of the Breslov Union in Uman, told Army Radio that "a lot can change until the High Holidays" and that preparations for the gathering in Uman will move forward as planned. "I do not expect the masses to come, but I hope I'm wrong," he said.
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Israeli Ambassador to Ukraine Michael Brodsky, however, told Israel Hayom that "we are preparing tens of thousands to visit Uman."
Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon told reporters that it was "too soon" to determine whether the annual pilgrimage could take place.
The raging war between Ukraine and Russia has, for the most part, not disrupted travel between Israel and Ukraine.
Shlomi Elisha, deputy director of Hatzalah Ukraine, told Israel Hayom that the Jewish community of Uman was sparing no effort to ensure worshippers would be able to visit the site.
"Uman is very far from the front line and life here goes on as usual, except for a nightly curfew," he said. Every Shabbat there are between 150 and 200 people who come to visit the grave site," he said, noting that the coming weeks are likely to see these numbers rise.
"We are preparing for Rosh Hashanah as we always do, but we are facing new security challenges. The coronavirus period taught us to face new types of challenges, and we believe we will also be able to face the challenge of war, too. We all hope that this war will end as soon as possible. "
JNS.org contributed to this report.
