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UMAN, Ukraine (AP) — Thousands of Hasidic Jewish pilgrims flocked to central Ukraine to mark the Jewish New Year on Sunday, ignoring foreign warnings as Russia scored more goals from the air and mobilized its citizens to stem losses in the war that has entered its territory. 8th month.
The pilgrims, many of whom came from Israel and beyond, gathered in the small town of Uman, the burial place of Breslov’s Nachman, a renowned Hasidic rabbi who died in 1810.
The streets of one of Uman’s central neighborhoods were filled with men of all ages dressed in classic black coats and long side loops. Some sang prayers. Others were screaming, screaming and dancing. Directional ads and posters in Hebrew covered the area.
Some visitors, like Nahum Markowitz of Israel, have been doing it for years and weren’t going to let war get in their way this year.
“We are not afraid. If we come to see Rabbi Nachman, he will visit us all year round,” said Markowitz, who has visited Uman since 1991, when the collapse of the Soviet Union made the pilgrimage available to foreign visitors.
In addition, he said, he is already familiar with the war and the howl of the mermaids who have just lived in Israel.
The city, two hundred kilometers (125 miles) south of the capital, Kyiv, attracts thousands of pilgrims for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which begins Sunday night and ends Tuesday.
The Ukrainian embassy in Israel has continuously suggested to those who are making plans a pilgrimage to stay at home, warning on Facebook that Russia has continuously attacked densely populated spaces and that “the attacks are putting their lives at risk. “
The governments of Israel and the U. S. The U. S. government also warned citizens not to do so this year, and some of those warnings would likely have worked.
More than 35,000 pilgrims surrendered last year, even in the face of pandemic restrictions, local official Oleh Hanich said.
This year’s turnout was lower, although it is still significant, given that no advertising flights arrive in the country. The United Jewish Community of Ukraine said 23,000 pilgrims were in Uman on Sunday.
“Neither the coronavirus nor the war stops them. For them, it’s a sacred place,” Hanich said, though he acknowledged that “we guarantee their safety in general. “
Rav Mota Frank, 54, first had reservations about making the match from Israel this year. But he made the decision that the threat was worth it after learning that the scenario in Uman is quieter than at the front and seeing how the Ukrainians themselves reacted. threats of war.
“When there are aerial alarms, they do not hide in the basement, but seek to be near the shelter,” he said of the Ukrainians. “In Israel we are used to it, there is also a constant war. accustomed to what life is, and that’s why it doesn’t scare us too much.
Uman is relatively far from the front lines in eastern and southern Ukraine, is inside a variety of Russian missiles and has already been hit.
In 2020, thousands of pilgrims were unable to reach Uman after Ukraine closed its borders due to a spike in COVID-19 infections.
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Associated Press Adam Schreck in Kyiv contributed to the report.
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