Tens of thousands of Jews flocked to the Tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman to celebrate Rosh Hashana despite the serious risk posed by Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, according to multiple estimates.
The videos above and below, filmed by a non-Jew, show Hasidic Jews performing the traditional “tashlich” ceremony on the second day of Rosh Hashana.
More than 22,000 incoming Jewish travelers paid a tourist tax to enter the country, according to a report by Chop Magazine, which quoted figures from Uman Police.
In the years before COVID-19, some 50,000 Jews typically arrived in the city to mark the holiday.
However, the magazine noted there were “at least several thousand, if not more” who evaded the tax by entering the country through courtyards of homes, bypassing the checkpoints.
The news outlet cited “three of the Chop Magazine team who participated in Uman Rosh Hashana and did not pay the tourist tax” as an example.
Despite the wartime conditions, the Rosh Hashana holiday passed relatively quietly without any unusual incidents, according to Hatzalah Ukraine.
Ukrainian Report: Russia Launched 10 Iranian-Made Suicide Drones at Uman over Rosh Hashanah
The report contradicts news published Tuesday by Ukrainian news outlet Babel.ua which cited sources in Ukraine’s special services who claimed Russian troops deliberately launched Shahed-136 Iranian kamikaze drones over Uman to attack Hasidic Jews celebrating Rosh Hashanah in the city.
Hatzalah Ukraine said the holiday passed with routine medical incidents, and nothing else.
“The clinic staff…provided emergency medicine to approximately 1,500 people” during the holiday, with five of the cases treated and then transferred to local hospitals for further care, the medical team said.
Together with local emergency forces, some 25,000 people stayed in Uman; at the end of the holiday, some 15,000 were expected to depart for their countries of origin, Hatzalah Ukraine added.
