35,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews ignore risks to travel to Ukraine for Rosh Hashanah

Hasidic Jews disregard threats of bombs and fake Russian warnings of an alleged terrorist attack for their annual Uman pilgrimage.

Unfazed by the bombs, undeterred by the warnings, and in the face of the raging conflict, more than 35,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews from across the world have journeyed to Uman, Ukraine, to celebrate Rosh Hashanah.

“Going to celebrate in a war zone en masse is crazy,” said Azoulay Ruben, a 22-year-old trainee dentist from Paris. “But at the same time, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Hundreds of pilgrims have even brought their young children to the annual Rosh Hashanah celebration.

The Ukrainian Embassy in Israel took to X last week to reassure Israelis in Uman that Russian “information about an alleged terrorist attack that Ukraine is supposedly planning to carry out in Uman during the Rosh Hashanah,” is untrue.

The Ukraine Centre for Countering Disinformation wrote that "enemy resources are spreading information that the "Kyiv regime" is allegedly planning to stage a terrorist attack in Uman".

'The show must go on’: 35,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews travel to Ukraine for Rosh Hashanah (Guardian)

READ MORE
Ignoring warnings, Israelis take kids on Uman pilgrimage in war-torn Ukraine (Times of Israel)

'Russian propaganda': Ukraine warns Israelis of fake news on planned Uman attack (Jerusalem Post)

Zelensky to Jews: May Rosh Hashanah bring triumph over Russian evil (Jerusalem Post)

Photo: Hasidic pilgrims in Uman (Emre Çaylak/The Guardian)