About 29,000 Jewish pilgrims flocked to the sleepy, central Ukrainian town of Uman from Sept. 6 to Sept. 8 to visit the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, the founder of the Breslov Hasidic dynasty, and celebrate the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashana. The celebration marked the arrival of year 5782 in the Jewish calendar.
Nachman was a charismatic Jewish mystic who believed Rosh Hashana to be a spiritually auspicious time.
The tradition of the Rosh Hashana pilgrimage in Uman began after Nachman’s death in 1810 at the age of 38. For much of the next 200 years, it was a comparatively small affair but it began to grow exponentially in the 1990s to host thousands of pilgrims per year.
Ultra-orthodox Jews who belong to the Hasidim movement believe reciting a particular selection of the Book of Psalms at his graveside has particular power. Over the course of the holiday, the pilgrims jostle for space near Nachman’s grave, pray and eat in large communal spaces.
In 2020, the Ukrainian government banned mass gatherings in Uman during the celebration of the Jewish New Year due to the high coronavirus risk.
