Disappointed with Israel: Ukraine to ban Hasidic pilgrimage, media

Hasidim in Uman. Photo: Novaya Gazeta Europe

Ukraine is using the ban on the traditional Hasidic pilgrimage to Uman as a tool to pressure Israel, demanding greater support in the war against Russia. Kyiv decided to ban the annual pilgrimage of tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews to Uman this September, officially citing security concerns, reports Israeli media.

An unnamed Ukrainian official told the Israeli resource i24 that Kyiv is disappointed with the lack of support from Israel in the face of Russian threats and demanded that Jerusalem provide both financial support and a physical police presence in Uman if the pilgrimage is allowed. Ukrainian authorities openly express dissatisfaction with the "insufficient support" from Israel in confronting Russia and hint that they may allow the pilgrimage on the condition of Israeli funding and the presence of Israeli police in Uman.

The decision to ban pilgrims from visiting the grave of the Hasidic leader Rabbi Nachman of Breslov during the Rosh Hashanah holiday is nominally related to the ban on mass gatherings in effect throughout Ukraine since February 2022. However, these threats did not prevent the pilgrimage from taking place during all the years of the full-scale invasion.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that DESS announced "the largest Jewish pilgrimage in the world".

Read also

Sand for construction of Yermak’s residence brought from cemetery, MP says

MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak said that sand illegally removed from a cemetery in Ukrainka was used in the construction of the elite Dynasty cooperative in Kozyn.

Italian court recognizes family with three parents as legal

In Bari, the appellate court ordered authorities to register an adoption according to which a child is listed as having two "fathers" and one mother.

Archaeologists discover biblical Bethsaida on shore of Sea of Galilee

Researchers have discovered a first-century residential house beneath the apse of a Byzantine church and a mosaic inscription mentioning the Apostle Peter.

Israeli soldiers receive jail terms for mocking statue of the Virgin Mary

Those involved in the act of sacrilege in the village of Debel will spend several weeks behind bars for desecrating a statue of the Mother of God.

Serbian Church officially receives back land of 15th-century monastery

An agreement was signed in Belgrade transferring the territory of the ancient Vojlovica Monastery to the Banat Eparchy.

Pat Daniel comments on conflict between Phanar bishop and community in Turkey

The Bulgarian Primate believes that the hierarch of the Constantinople Patriarchate should not have forced the Bulgarian community in Edirne to serve in Greek.