Hasidim travel to Uman to celebrate “New Year for the elite”

Hasidim gathering in Uman. Photo: Suspilne

Hasidic Jews are arriving in Uman to celebrate the birthday of their spiritual leader, Rabbi Nachman. As of March 28, 2025, more than 1,200 pilgrims had already come to the city, according to Suspilne.

Anastasia Baryshnikova, PR director of the Rabbi Nachman of Breslov International Charitable Foundation, explained that Hasidim view Rabbi Nachman’s birthday as a kind of “New Year for the elite.”

“Rabbi Nachman’s birthday, which falls at the end of March, is like a New Year for privileged people – for those with high financial and social status. They say: just as nature has its New Year, so do those who wield influence in this world. Rabbi Nachman’s birthday is the New Year for the elite – for those who make decisions, manage processes, hold power, and possess great opportunities,” Baryshnikova said.

According to her, Hasidim believe that on Rabbi Nachman’s birthday, one’s destiny for the year ahead is revealed – what your work will be, what changes will come, and what path is set before you.

“In the 19th century, local Christians believed that on the 1st of Nisan, a fire would emerge from the ground near the grave. There are accounts that local elders witnessed strange lights or a glow near Rabbi Nachman’s grave specifically in the days of March. Maybe it was just a legend – but for Hasidim, it became proof that the site was chosen for a reason,” Baryshnikova added.

As previously reported by the UOJ, a personal chair was recently made for President Zelensky in a Kyiv synagogue.

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