Israel and Ukraine issued a joint statement on Tuesday effectively canceling the annual pilgrimage to the tomb of Reb Nachman due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov is located in the central Ukrainian city of Uman, and is the object of a Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage attended by thousands of Hasidic and other religious Jews, as well as some secular participants.
The statement read, “Following the recommendations and warnings of the Ministries of Health of Ukraine and Israel, we urge all pilgrims who have planned or are planning to take part in this year’s Rosh Hashanah celebrations in Ukraine to refrain from visiting the city of Uman due to the threatening epidemiological situation.”
“However, to those who decide to visit Uman, we would like to stress that current restrictions are applied to all public events during quarantine and will be strictly enforced,” the statement added.
“We hope for understanding and sincerely believe that next year we will be able to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and other holidays together without any restrictions,” it concluded.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry had already announced that pilgrims would be prevented from visiting Uman for Rosh Hashanah due to fears of sparking a coronavirus outbreak. If necessary, it said, a lockdown on the city would be imposed.
The mayor of Uman endorsed a ban on Monday, saying, “We predict that the second wave [of the coronavirus] will occur exactly in mid-September, which is why I am against thousands of people visiting the city.”
Algemeiner. (c) 2020. Benjamin Kerstein.
{Matzav.com}
Those who want to go to Uman are from the thousands of people who were not fooled into the coronavirus nonsense, planned at least 2 years beforehand. If not for police fines, most people in the US and Israel would not wear masks as they know it’s all bogus.
Maybe the Na nachs. I think that’s Motzi shem ra on the normal ones though.
Ukrainians again trying to destroy our religion. I’m sure a nice bribe can go a long way with these guys. Someone should start a fund.
going to uman has no tradition.
Not a problem. Hunter Biden has a lot of connections with the Ukrainians.
Why can’t we make pop-up Uman style minyanim this year wherever?
The “coronavirus nonsense” has already killed several of our valued Gedolei Hatorah.You may be going and healthy but a lot of people aren’t.
Those who go to Uman for Rosh Hashanah will have to be in quarantine and miss going to shul for Yom Kippur and part of Sukkos and all the days in between. Is it worth going and miss all those tefillow betzibur? Or will they just ignore quarantine regulations?