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Uman Visitors Won’t Get Warm Welcome This Year

Arutz 7

Posters in Uman depict an “alien-like” Jewish figure behind the universal “unwanted” symbol, with the poster’s headline proclaiming “Uman without Chassidim“ (left), and ”Will YOU be attending the march” (right).

Tens of thousands of Israelis who are planning to depart in the coming days to visit the burial site of Rav Nachman of Breslov may not get a warm welcome this year. A group of local residents in the Ukraine city of Uman, where the rabbi’s tomb is located, have called on residents to come out to a major protest against their Israeli visitors, demanding that the city ban them.

As many as 50,000 Israelis could visit the site over the next two weeks – culminating in Rosh Hashanah services at the site. According to his students, Rav Nachman announced to his followers that he would provide a special blessing to them if they made the effort to pray near his tomb on the Jewish New Year, and for hundreds of years, except for during World War II – with limited groups permitted to visit during periods when Ukraine was under Communist control – Breslov Chassidim have streamed to the site, with the excursion gaining popularity in recent years among Jews from the Breslov and other Chassidic groups. This year is expected to be the best ever for “Uman tourism,” as a new agreement allows Israelis to enter Ukraine without arranging a visa in advance.

But apparently some Uman residents have decided they would rather keep out the large Jewish groups who take up residence in their town this time of year. In recent days, large posters depict an “alien-like” Jewish figure behind the universal “unwanted” symbol, with the poster’s headline proclaiming “Uman Without Chassidim.”

The poster invites the public to a series of protests demanding that the government refuse entry to the Chassidic groups. The first protest took place several weeks ago, attracting several hundred people, sources in Uman said. Marches have been held in previous years, with residents complaining that they feel “like under occupation” when the Jewish visitors are in town. The marches have generally been identified with Ukranian nationalists, who have been associated with European neo-Nazi groups.

Officials of the World Breslov Center, which organizes and coordinates the visits, have asked the Uman municipality to ensure the safety of visitors. Last year, a 19 year old Israeli visiting the site was murdered by a group of local residents, who smashed the window of a car owned by a Jewish visitor. Shmuel Tubul, who had recently gotten engaged, along with his younger brother, rushed outside to see what had happened, and were set upon by the Ukranian gang, one of whom stabbed Tubul in the chest.

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13 Comments

  • duh

    to number one: would you want thousands of Chasidim coming to your small suburb? Dont really blame them, but if they were smart, theyd capitalise on it…not ban it!

  • SAD

    My son was on a plane chock full of them coming back from Shlichus. Most of them (not the bona fide original Breslavers from NY and Yerushalayim) make a majot chillul Hashem, starting from Ben Gurion airport. And guess what- the Yidden in Uman have no one to daven for the omud with all those thousands there, so a Shliach in Western Ukraine sends some Tmimim over..

  • Thinkster

    The Israelis will handle it. IF they want a fight, then, Oooman, they gonna get creamed.

  • meyer

    bh

    in tat-v-tat over 10,000 jews were butchered in uman and buried in a mass grave. rabbi nachman is buried on the same site,even though he died yrs after the massacre.. the goyum in uman make big gelt renting to jews coming from outside, just to be in uman for rosh hashanah.there is also a chabad minyan on rosh hashanah in uman.

  • not going to happen

    these poor pheasants aren’t going to bsn anything. This is literally their income for the entire year. They are paid so well for the 3 weeks that jews flock to Uman…..they won’t give that up.

  • AA

    To #1: you have to ask? Because the Ukrainian goyim have a long history of being vicious anti-Semites. Do you know why R. Nachman asked to be buried in Uman? Because there are some twenty thousand Jews who were killed there al kiddush Hashem by the Ukrainians in 1768, and he wanted to rest among them. And did you know one of the Ukrainian national heroes is Bogdan Chmielnitzki yimach shemo, who was responsible for the deaths of half a million or so Jews? They have statues in his honor all over the country. So yes, it’s easy enough to understand why they don’t mind destroying the local economy, as long as they can keep Jews out.

  • this is #1

    sorry for asking people gosh..
    i thought it was Jewish people living in the community who didn’t want fellow Breslover’s coming..I didn’t know they are goyim there.

    and yes I’ve been to CH during TIshrei it’s nice having so any people and it being so lively
    of course there are it’s downsides but the more Jews together the better