The annual pilgrimage by Jews to the gravesite of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov in Uman, Ukraine, has grabbed the headlines this year because of misconduct by the revelers.

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First, it was reported that some were involved in a car crash that resulted in one Ukrainian woman killed; then Ukrainian social media was inundated by the photos showing the massive amounts of trash left on buses and in the city itself; and now Israel Hayom can report that Ukraine's Ministry of Internal Affairs has recorded 16 cases of possession of hard drugs such as heroin, seven instances of disorderly conduct and four cases of traffic violations. 

Video: The siren is heard in Uman, Ukraine.

The data also shows the death of one participant (a Hassidic Jew who collapsed and died) and nine cases of lost documentation, along with 43 other citations. 

The information that Israel Hayom exclusively obtained shows that the Ukrainian authorities have opened 18 criminal cases, including 16 for illicit possession or trafficking of drugs. 

The data shows that 35,312 Jews made the pilgrimage to Uman this year – a surge from a year ago, when only 22,000 arrived because this was the first year of the Ukraine war. As of Monday, 7,654 had already left the city. 

The authorities in Kyiv have allotted a force of some 1,300 people from across the country – the police, the National Guard, and other agencies – to ensure the peaceful pilgrimage. Israel has sent 14 uniformed officers, even though Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed having Israel send about 100 officers.

Ukrainian authorities have been grappling with the massive amount of trash left by the visitors. Each participant in the pilgrimage has to pay a $40 tourist tax (or $27 if paid in advance), which is meant to go toward the cleanup operation– among other things. However, this year Ukrainian authorities have noticed WhatsApp communications in which the visitors have been sharing tips on how to evade this levy. In Ukrainian media, some of the Hassids have also been complaining that there are not enough trash bins in the epicenter of the celebrations, on what is known as Tourist Street (formerly Pushkin Street). 

Chaim Chazin, who owns a hotel in Uman, told the Ukrainian site Hromadske, "Why can't they use the money generated by the tourist tax toward having a trash bin on every corner?"

The Ukrainian ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, told Israel Hayom the following: "Despite the great difficulties facing our government during the war, the president decided to have Uman open for visitors and to let the Hassids [observe their traditions]. Our president has a huge heart when it comes to Israel."

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Ukrainian intelligence issued a strong warning over a potential Russian attack on the city of Uman, where many Jews visit during this time of year to pray at the gravesite of a famous rabbi.

The concerns arose after intelligence sources in Kyiv noted that Russia began disseminating disinformation about supposed Ukrainian plans to harm Hassidic pilgrims visiting Rebbe Nachman's grave during Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), which begins this weekend.

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The Center for Countering Disinformation in Kyiv issued guidelines stating that official Russian media outlets have started publishing reports accusing Ukraine of planning to harm the pilgrims in order to "blame Russia." Ukrainian officials suspect that these reports might be a precursor to a Russian "false flag" operation.

Video: The siren is heard in Uman, Ukraine.

"The Center for Countering Disinformation urges the public not to fall for foreign manipulations, to heed air raid warnings, to follow security regulations, and to rely only on verified and reliable sources," reads the Ukrainian announcement.

It is anticipated that 11,000 Hassidic Jews will visit Rebbe Nachman's grave in the city of Uman for Rosh Hashanah. Although Uman, situated in central Ukraine, is hundreds of kilometers away from the front lines, it has been targeted by the Russian Air Force in the past.

In April, a Russian cruise missile struck a residential building in the city, resulting in 23 fatalities.

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Ukraine's ambassador to Israel threatened Sunday to block entry for Israelis to Uman for the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage unless Jerusalem "stopped deporting Ukrainians."

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Canceling the visa-free policy with Israel is also being considered, Yevhen Kornichuk said.

According to data, Israel has deported 2,037 Ukrainians since the beginning of 2023, almost the same number deported in all of 2022 (2,705 Ukrainians).

Video: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives at the NATO summit in Vilnius / Credit: Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week, "I listened to the report ... regarding the attitude toward our citizens – immigrants who are in different countries, and regarding visa policies. The things that citizens of Ukraine actually face in the visa issue. The rights of Ukrainian citizens must be guaranteed."

According to Kornichuk, Zelenskyy was referring to Israel and warned that "Ukraine will not tolerate the humiliation of its citizens upon arrival to Israel."

He said it was "unreasonable that we should go out of our way to host tens of thousands of Israelis in Uman, with a high security risk and major logistical effort, while the Israeli government mistreats our citizens."

He called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to intervene personally if "he wants Israeli citizens to be able to continue to travel to Ukraine as tourists."

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Foreign Minister Eli Cohen arrived in Moldova Monday in preparation for the arrival of a record number of pilgrims to Ukraine's Uman ahead of Rosh Hashanah.

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Cohen's was the first visit by an Israeli foreign minister to Moldova, which became the main entry point for travelers to Uman since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, in over a decade. The site is the burial place of the revered Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.

Video: The siren is heard in Uman, Ukraine.

The foreign minister met with his Moldovan counterpart Nicu Popescu as well as the President of Moldova Maia Sandu, with whom he discussed, among other things, preparations ahead of the arrival of the pilgrims and ensuring a quick and smooth passage into Ukraine.

Cohen was accompanied by Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Heritage Minister Meir Porush and MK Eliyahu Revivo (Likud), who are leading the preparations for the Uman festivities in the government and the Knesset.

As many as 71 direct flights are expected to fly from Israel to Moldova, with tens of thousands to cross the border into Ukraine over a period of three days.

The Israeli officials also met with representatives of the Jewish community of Moldova. Porush and the representatives toured the local airport to examine the possibility of increasing capacity and manpower.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials discouraged traveling to Uman due to the ongoing fighting.

"Our recommendation is to avoid arriving on Rosh Hashanah, considering the war, the regular bombings, and the possibility of provocations from Russia," Ihor Taburets, governor of the Cherkasy region, where Uman is located, said.

According to Taburets, the authorities understood, however, that worshippers would arrive in Uman in any case and were preparing ahead of time.

A political source said that "so far there is no limit to the number of" pilgrims allowed to travel to Uman this year.

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Among the 30,000 Israelis who traveled to Uman in Ukraine to worship at the grave of Rabbi Nahman of Breslev over the High Holidays, some 3,440 have already tested positive upon their return to Israel, health authorities reported Sunday evening.

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Of the positive cases among the Uman pilgrims, 25% were hospitalized and 19 were listed in serious conditions. Four of the Uman visitors have already died, with two of the deaths confirmed to be from COVID and the two other fatalities under investigation. A whopping 81% of the Uman visitors who contracted COVID were unvaccinated, and 91% are under age 50.

"This is a 10% positive rate, which is very high. The confirmed carriers cooperated only partly with the contact tracing, but I hope that they protected themselves and their family members," a senior healthcare official said.

Meanwhile, among the general population, 3,208 new cases were confirmed on Sunday, the Health Ministry reported Monday morning, a positive rate of 4.26% of the tests processed. The virus reproduction rate (R) was also down to 0.77, but it was unclear whether these lower figures were due to an actual decline in the number of cases or the fewer tests processed during the holidays.

As of Monday morning, there were 671 COVID patients listed in serious condition, with 90% of the serious cases contracted by people who had not received the booster shot.

Nearly 120,000 public school students, who are scheduled to go back to school this week after the Sukkot holiday ends, were in quarantine on Monday, and 3,843 teachers and other educational staff were in quarantine.

Authorities expect that the return to school, as well as Israelis returning from vacations abroad, will cause a spike in the number of new cases over the next few weeks that will begin to drop if the public continues to be vaccinated and observe public health precautions.

Healthcare officials have warned that Tuesday through Thursday this week, testing sites are expected to be unusually crowded because of the tests required by Israelis returning from abroad and home antigen tests whose results demand a second test. The IDF Home Front Command is currently operating 160 testing sites, 30 more than were available as of Rosh Hashanah on Sept. 6. However, one official said, "Community clinics are still not giving it their all."

On Sunday, Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz convened a press conference at Wolfson Medical Center at which he expressed his satisfaction at the efficacy of the COVID booster shot and the government policy of "not instating lockdowns and not harming the economy."

Also on Sunday, Israel received its first shipment of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, N12 reported. The AstraZeneca vaccines will be offered to Israelis who have sensitivities to components of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.

Recent studies have indicated that the AstraZeneca vaccine might not require recipients to get a booster shot.

In related news, Israel's Coronavirus cabinet is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. Sunday for the first time in over a month.

The cabinet is meeting as the number of serious COVID cases remains high and after unprecedented public criticism from healthcare experts, published a few days ago, of the government's policy during the latest Delta wave.

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Dozens of Israeli faithful who visited Uman for Rosh Hashanah and contracted COVID-19 during the celebrations faked negative test results to be allowed to return to Israel, the Health Ministry reported Thursday. 

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Auhorities at Ben-Gurion International Airport continued to inspect every returnee from the Ukrainian city, fearing hundreds of more such cases among the 25,000 Israelis who traveled to celebrate festivities at the gravesite of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. Twenty more flights were scheduled from Ukraine to Israel on Friday.

According to Population and Immigration Authority data, 152 returnees tested positive for the virus by Friday morning.

In response, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett vowed full criminal charges against individuals found to be using fake test results to enter Israel. 

"The Israeli government views the matter of patients fraudulently entering Israel by falsifying documents very seriously," the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement. 

Bennett instructed authorities to take strict measures against anyone found breaking the rules. Violators will be forced to pay an ambulance to take them home for a mandatory 10-day self-isolation, which will be enforced by the Israel Police. Those who cannot quarantine at home will be required to do so at a state-run hotel. Anyone found stepping out of self-isolation ahead of time will be arrested immediately. The government was also considering mandating infected Uman returnees to quarantine for a full 14 days, the statement said. 

Airport authorities were ready for the incidents, as they had predicted these would occur. A senior official told Israel Hayom that pilgrims to Uman have been known to forge passports in the past – willing to go to any means to get to Ukraine – and said that given these tactics, the idea of faking COVID tests did not seem too farfetched. 

Officials increased screening efforts two weeks before Rosh Hashanah, as would-be pilgrims to Uman were desperate to reach their destination after having been denied entry to the city last year due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Itsik Saban and Ariel Kahana contributed to this report. 

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With just two weeks until Rosh Hashanah, Israeli authorities are poised for the departure of tens of thousands of Hassidim to the Ukrainian city of Uman for the annual celebration of the holiday at the gravesite of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.

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Pilgrims are desperate to reach their destination after having been denied entry to the city last year due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Some worshippers even got stranded on the Belarus-Ukraine border in a failed attempt to get to Uman before the holiday.

According to Health Ministry guidelines, every Israeli leaving the country needs to provide a negative coronavirus test at Ben-Gurion International Airport. Authorities fear Hassidim who test positive for COVID will forge documents in order to get to the festivities.

A senior official told Israel Hayom they were preparing to increase screening efforts as travelers to Uman have been known to forge passports in the past – willing to go to any means to get to Ukraine – and might do the same with COVID tests.

He said they might go as far as delay a flight if even a single worshipper is found to carry fake papers. Authorities are aware, however, that such strict measures might not bode well with airlines and are pondering requesting travelers to Uman to provide their negative coronavirus tests several hours before arriving at the airport.

In any case, authorities hope that even the possibility of a flight delay would discourage worshippers from providing forged coronavirus tests.

For weeks, Breslav Hassidim have been unsure whether they would be allowed to travel to Ukraine at all. The country has been on Israel's no-fly list several times, although it is not at the moment. As a precaution, many traveled to Uman several weeks earlier for fear that the border would be closed.

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Ukraine's deputy health minister, Dr. Ihor Kuzin, said on Monday that his country would work to ease restrictions on the annual Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) pilgrimage to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslev in the city of Uman, Russian news agency Interfax reported.

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According to Kuzin, a special directive allowing religious pilgrims to enter the country under certain pandemic-related restrictions has been approved and will also apply to Hassidic Jews visiting Uman.

"The directive consists of basic steps for the prevention of pandemics, such as the requirement to wear protective masks, checking body temperature, and oversight of the public transportation used by pilgrims. Additionally, border crossing protocols are well-defined now and the instructions are clear and unequivocal," said Kuzin.

Kuzin also said that informational pamphlets were ready for distribution at the country's airports and that volunteers from Ukraine and Israel have been recruited to facilitate expeditious testing of Hassidic visitors.

Ukraine's deputy health minister added that some 50,000 rapid coronavirus testing kits have been allocated by the ministry for those arriving in Uman from Israel and that around 190,000 protective masks and 19,000 hand sanitizer bottles have already been purchased to protect the attendees.

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The Ukrainian government will allow vaccinated Israelis to make an annual Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) pilgrimage to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslev in the city of Uman, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported on Friday.

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The development reportedly came amid talks of Israel sending surplus COVID-19 vaccinations to Kiev.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov is said to have reached the agreement on Friday after a telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri.

Every year, tens of thousands of Israelis travel to the central Ukrainian city of Uman to worship at the tomb of the 19th-century Hasidic rabbi, founder of the Breslev movement.

Last year, however, Ukrainian authorities blocked entry into the country and refused to organize the pilgrimage due to coronavirus pandemic, leading to thousands being stranded at the Ukraine-Belarus border.

Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky, who won a landslide victory in 2019, has recently seen his poll numbers lag as the pandemic has further damaged the country's struggling economy.

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"The key condition for the implementation of this large-scale measure [the organization of the pilgrimage] will be the improvement of the epidemiological situation in Ukraine and the preliminary vaccination of visitors," a statement released by Avakov's office said.

The statement also mentioned "assistance from Israel in providing vaccine packages."

This article was first published by i24NEWS.

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Tens of thousands of Jews from across the world travel annually to Uman to celebrate Rosh Hashanah at the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. This year, however, authorities in Ukraine have closed the borders to foreigners because of the coronavirus pandemic and fear of spreading COVID-19, making travel there for the holiday impossible.

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The Ukrainian border closure began on Aug. 29 and extends through the holiday of Yom Kippur on Sept. 28.

Even before the official border shutdown, Israeli and Ukrainian officials asked Jews to refrain from traveling to the Ukrainian city this year.

Duncan's letter to Pompeo, which was co-signed by 25 congressional colleagues, highlighted the fact that Ukraine's travel ban has some exemptions, "including allowing students, diplomats and cultural figures to arrive by invitation."

"The Ukrainian government could add a limited religious exception allowing for a small fraction of regular attendees (not to exceed 2,000 people) to enter the country for a total of five days," the letter said, adding "All members of the group would be tested upon arrival at their own expense and would agree to follow all medical safety and security precautions and protocols at all times. …"

In recent years, tens of thousands of religious Jews have made the annual trek to Uman to visit the gravesite. Even the prospect of several thousand are causing concern among Ukrainian leadership.

In response to a JNS inquiry about the letter, Duncan said, "As a former member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee with a longstanding history of working on religious freedom issues, protecting religious practices is extremely important to me. With COVID-19 turning our world upside-down this year, we have all had to make sacrifices. However, even during times of uncertainty, governments should continue to allow maximum flexibility for religious expression and practice.

"I have a deep respect for all people of faith, and I believe Ukraine had good intentions in crafting their travel restrictions. But I also believe they need to find creative ways to accommodate people of faith in a safe and commonsense manner," he continued.

"Governments don't have to choose between allowing religious expression and public safety, and believe this letter makes it clear that common-sense steps can be taken to achieve both goals. I am hopeful raising this issue will clear the way for many in the Jewish community to travel to Uman for the Jewish New Year."

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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