The Ukrainian government plans to ban mass gatherings in the city of Uman during the celebration of the Jewish New Year due to the high coronavirus risk, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said at a Cabinet meeting on Aug. 26.
The final decision will be made on Aug. 27 by the State Commission for Technogenic and Ecological Safety and Emergency Situations, which is chaired by Shmyhal and includes ministers and heads of state agencies.
Moreover, the government imposed a 30-day entry ban for foreign nationals from Aug. 29 until Sept. 28. Only foreigners holding residence permits in Ukraine, members of diplomatic and international missions, students of Ukrainian universities, and cultural workers and athletes with official invitations for events are exempt from the ban.
Both decisions may prevent Hasidic Jews from making pilgrimage to Uman. Every year, tens of thousands of Hasids travel to the Ukrainian city, located 215 kilometers to the south of Kyiv, to celebrate the New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, by praying at the gravesite of Rabbi Nachman, founder of the Breslov Hasidic dynasty.
Read more: Nearly 27,000 Jewish pilgrims mark new year, pray at sacred grave in Uman
This year, officials have raised concerns over the event after the number of new coronavirus cases in Ukraine at times surpassed 2,000 per day and the number of hospitalizations has sometimes exceeded 400 per day during the month of August. Currently, there are over 54,200 active COVID-19 cases in the country.
Shmyhal said that the decision to ban mass events on Rosh Hashanah was fully coordinated with Ukraine’s Israeli partners.
Earlier, the head of Israel’s coronavirus task force, Prof. Ronni Gamzu, sent a letter to the Ukrainian president and prime minister asking them to ban the pilgrimage this year. He cited high infection risks both for the residents of Uman and for Israeli citizens.
In addition, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that a similar request had come from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to his press service. However, Netanyahu denied this, the Times of Israel reported. The move allegedly drew anger from ultra-Orthodox politicians in his coalition.
Furthermore, the Ukrainian and Israeli governments issued a joint statement on Aug. 18 calling on pilgrims to cancel their travel plans to Uman this year. They also asked those who still decide to visit the Ukrainian city to follow all public health guidelines.
This year, Rosh Hashanah starts on Sept. 18. Some pilgrims have already flown into Ukraine. There is also a domestic community of Hasidic Jews in Ukraine.
At a meeting with Ukraine’s Jewish religious leaders on Aug. 25, Zelensky asked them to pass on a request that the Jewish community avoid mass gatherings on Rosh Hashanah.
Currently, Israel and the United States, where most of the pilgrims usually come from, are on Ukraine’s “red” list of countries with the highest number of active cases per 100,000 members of the population. Travelers from those countries are required to have health insurance covering COVID-19 treatment and to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival to Ukraine or self-isolate for 14 days with a special tracking app.
Up to 10,000 pilgrims were expected to come to Uman this year for Rosh Hashanah, Ben Nun Nathan Nissim, president of the Nachman of Breslov International Charity Foundation, said at a press conference on Aug. 20
