The head of Israel’s Coronavirus Working Group has asked Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to forbid an annual pilgrimage in which Hasidic Jews stop in the city of Uman in central Ukraine for fear that the site may be a hot spot for the virus.
Tens of thousands of Hasidic Jews descend to Ouman every Jewish New Year to stop at the tomb of Rabbi Najman de Breslov, who revived the Hasidic movement and died in 1810. This year’s Jewish New Year celebrations take place from September 18 to 20.
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The governments of Ukraine and Israel have already issued a joint communiqué calling on pilgrims to cancel their journeys, but massive crowds are still making plans to fly.
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Ronni Gamzu, Israel’s most sensible advisor on the coronavirus, has now sent a letter to Zelenskiy, urging him to act.
“Such a collection, at such difficult times, is expected to create great occasions of infection from tourists and local residents of Ukraine, which places a great burden on local medical systems, while thousands more are expected to return to Israel and spread further.” Gamzu said in the letter notified via Reuters on Saturday.
“I urge you to impose a ban on these celebrations this year, as part of efforts by the entire global network to end this horrific pandemic,” he said.
On Friday, Israel exceeded 100,000 reported cases of coronavirus. There were 80nine coVID-1nine deaths among its nine million inhabitants.