UMAN, Ukraine (AP) — Prayer chants and the sound of traditional ram’s horns fill the air in the city of Uman, central Ukraine, as thousands of pilgrims take part in an annual gathering to celebrate the Jewish new year despite the war against Russia.
Uman, 200 kilometers south of the Ukrainian capital Kiev, is being transformed for the celebration of Rosh Hashanah. The streets are plastered with signs in Hebrew for pilgrims who come to pray at the grave of Rabbi Nachman, the great-grandson of the founder of the Hasidic movement.
Despite Ukrainian and Israeli diplomats warning of the security threat, officials told The Associated Press that 35,000 pilgrims made the journey to Uman this year, as in previous years.
Rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman, a leading figure in Ukraine’s Jewish community, was among those who urged international pilgrims not to visit Ukraine due to security concerns, but acknowledged that many would still make the trip regardless of the potential risks involved were accompanied.
“Every year (since the large-scale invasion of Russia) I speak on Israeli television and radio and call on (Jewish) pilgrims not to come to Ukraine. My main concern is people’s lives,” he said.
As the war in Ukraine rages into its third year, the Russian military is firing an almost daily barrage of drones and missiles into Ukraine, leaving no region completely safe. Active fighting takes place along a 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front as Russian forces press their advantage in the battle. eastern Donetsk region. This year alone, the Russian army has managed to capture several thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian territory capture of the city of Vuhledar being their most recent notable achievement.
Nachman Shitrit, 18, who traveled to Uman with his father from Haifa, Israel, said he had made the pilgrimage more than a dozen times.
“The war here has not stopped me from traveling to Ukraine; where I come from, there is also war,” he told the AP.
This year’s pilgrimage takes place at an increasingly volatile time in the Middle East. Israel is now engaged in a war on multiple fronts, including fighting with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, attacks from Iran and attacks in Syria, plus ongoing confrontations with armed militants in the West Bank and occasional attacks by Iranian-backed militants in Iraq. and by the Houthis in Yemen.
The hostilities posed additional challenges for some pilgrims traveling to Ukraine this year.
Ukraine closed its airspace in February 2022, at the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion, forcing visitors to travel overland via other European countries to reach Uman.
The United Jewish Community of Ukraine said on Wednesday that more than 14,000 pilgrims could not travel to Uman, partly due to Iranian attack on Israel Tuesday. Iran fired a barrage of nearly 180 missiles, canceling multiple flights from Israel, an act that Iranian officials called retaliation for. Israel’s recent attacks on Hezbollah.
Meir Shpanier, 23, who traveled from Tel Aviv, said the difficulty of the trip had made the experience more meaningful for him this year.
“By some miracle I ended up here. My travel agent booked flights from Tel Aviv to Budapest. From there a Ukrainian driver picked me up and we drove 22 hours to Uman. But some of my friends had to travel through five countries.”
“Because I had to work hard to get here, it means more to me now. I think we are all blessed to be here,” Shpanier said.
