For most of the year, Uman in central Ukraine is the maximum to distinguish itself from any other sleeping provincial city in the post-Soviet country.
But during a week of autumn, it transforms when tens of thousands of Classic black-clad Jasidic pilgrims flood the streets for the noisy Celebrations of the Jewish New Year.
This year’s pilgrimage to Ouman’s tomb of Rabbi Nahman, founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement, interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, with many believers traveling many miles to Ukraine’s border with Belarus.
With cases on the rise, Kiev closed its borders to foreigners in August for fear that travelers will cause an additional increase in infections.
The resolution blocked more than 1,000 pilgrims in no man’s land between border checkpoints.
Several thousand pilgrims entered the country before the ban, traveled to Ouman for festivities from 18 to 20 September and increased the population from 80,000.
“Despite the problems of the pandemic, pilgrims came here because they believe Rabbi Nahman will heal,” Jonathan Cohen, a Ouman resident, told the AFP, dressed in a black kipá and face mask.
Rabbi Nahman is one of the leading figures in Hasidism, a mystical branch of Judaism that emerged in the 18th century and evolved in Poland and Ukraine.
“We are very afraid of the coronavirus. But our faith supports us,” said Cohen, 43.
– Concentrated in no man’s land –
Those who arrived in Uman in time think that their brethren in the faith have been able to enter.
“We believe that every effort will have to be done to allow them to come here,” Mota Frank, a rabbi who had travelled from Jerusalem in the days leading up to the New Year’s celebrations, told AFP.
They had to make it clear that they would “observe quarantine regulations and pass all checks,” said the 50-year-old man, who has been traveling to Ouman for 33 years.
But Ukraine stood firm that it would not give them the passage, angrily accusing Belarus of giving pilgrims false hopes that a passage could be negotiated.
Kiev’s refusal to greet the pilgrims provoked tense scenes, with crowds of believers hopeful on the border colliding with police cordons.
By Friday, however, almost waiting along the border had abandoned and abandoned crossing points, the ukrainian and Belarusian border guards said.
– Pandemic fears –
Ouman Mayor Oleksandr Tsebriy told the AFP that he had travelled to Kiev and had camped outdoors in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s workplace to convince him to cancel this year’s pilgrimage to the coronavirus crisis.
The Ukrainian government “reacted too late” by absolutely cancelling the event, he said in his office.
“Sorry” for the pilgrims who went to Ouman, Tsebriy added, as they now face coronavirus-like restrictions in their celebration.
Dozens of symptoms on Pushkin Street, amid the festivities, warned pilgrims to “wear a mask. “and each and every believer who entered Rabbi Nahman’s grave was controlled by the temperature.
Inside the white-walled sanctuary with columns, pilgrims approached and embraced the stone tomb one by one, before the faithful in yellow vests cleaned the stone with a disinfectant.
The measures were sufficient to reassure local populations that pilgrims would lead to a build-up of new infections with them, fears that worsened after mandatory testing among pilgrims revealed 10 cases.
– Improved security –
Ukraine, one of Europe’s poorest countries with a population of about 40 million, recorded a record accumulation in new cases at 3,584 on Thursday.
The total number of instances in the country exceeds 169,000, with more than 3,000 deaths.
Some citizens of Oumans were frustrated because pilgrims were allowed to gather freely in the city, while citizens were forced to do so with restrictions.
“My son’s schooling is limited,” Liliya Pogrebnyak, 35, told AFP, referring to an official resolution to close two schools near the pilgrimage for a week.
The population had the right “not to come this year,” he said, referring to The Hasidic pilgrims.
To prevent frustrations from overflowing, police on Wednesday increased security in the spaces around the sanctuary.
Tsebriy said the tension surrounding the transience of this year’s pilgrimage and that “Uman will welcome all tourists again” at some point in the future.
“But now fitness and they’re paramount,” he says.
(This article was published from a firm thread without converting the text, only the name has been changed).
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