Posted on 09/15/2023 12:33:39 PM PDT by Cronos
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, the Jewish new year.
“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.”
Rosh Hashanah is a two-day holiday that falls in September or October, marking the beginning of the high holy days. In Israel, it is usually celebrated with family visits and food: traditionally, pomegranates and apples dipped in honey are eaten to symbolise hopes for a “sweet” year ahead.
...Each year it is as if an ultra-Orthodox slice of Jerusalem had been transported to the quiet city of Uman, with its population of 80,000. The streets are filled with shops that gladly accept payments in shekels, men are dressed in long black coats or white prayer robes, and advertisements and street signs are written in Hebrew.
..Israeli and Ukrainian officials pleaded for worshippers to stay away this year. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is also Jewish, spoke last week in a conversation in which the Ukrainian leader made it clear that there were “not enough shelters in Uman for local residents, let alone foreign tourists”.
The city was last hit by Russian missiles in June, while in April 23 civilians were killed, including three children, after more than 20 long-range Russian missiles struck a residential neighbourhood.
Despite the warnings, as of Wednesday more than 35,000 foreign visitors had arrived in Uman, the majority from Israel, and others from France and the US.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
...
For followers of the rabbi Nachman of Breslov, however, Rosh Hashanah is a chance to party. Nachman, a great-grandson of the founder of what is today broadly known as Hassidic Judaism, a branch of ultra-Orthodoxy, spent the final months of his life in the Ukrainian city of Uman, 125 miles (200km) south of Kyiv, and died in 1810.
In 1941, the Germans deported the entire Jewish community in Uman, murdering 17,000 Jews and destroying the local Jewish cemetery, including the burial place of Nachman, which was eventually recovered and relocated to a new place. About 1 million Ukrainian Jews were killed in the Holocaust.
More than 200 years after Breslov’s death, the sect still makes pilgrimages to his tomb on Rosh Hashanah, when it is believed those who pray over it will be atoned for their sins, although today the celebrations often involve loud music, trance-like dancing and heavy use of alcohol and drugs. Ukrainian police on Friday arrested four Israeli nationals suspected of drug possession at a crossing point outside the western Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia, Ynet has reported.
...
The arrival of thousands of Jewish pilgrims in Ukraine does not help the Kremlin’s propaganda, which has persistently claimed the need to “denazify” the country since it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Maybe they’ll stay and fight?
Be prepared for Uman to become Vlad's primary target and be obliterated.
Many Jews have been driven out of Russia, or killed and tortured by Russians over the years.
They’ll still be able to go when Russia takes over.
No, that’s a goy’s job.
The rabbi shrugs and say, "Hey . . . somebody's gotta pay retail."
Descend on?
Oh no, Guardian is not anti-Semitic.
/s
Lol…
I’m guessing this was Plan B for 2023 … after the travel agent’s “Celebrate Rosh Hashanah in Mecca” travel package was canceled a couple of weeks ago?
Do the thousands of Ukrainian nazis know about this?
Maybe Putin captured all of them and can call what is left of his army off?
Not many washing machines left to steal.
Good one! Putin using chips from washing machines 🤣😬
The New Year starts in the 2 or 3 month of the Gregorian calendar, The sighted crescent moon declares it. That is Aviv. The so called observant Jews go by the Babylonian calendar, which is 6 months out of synch with the COMMANDS of God. It is very clear in the Torah.
Anything else is a blasphemy to Elohim. The calendar is clearly spelled out in Torah. Each month starts with a Sighted crescent moon. These people and of course the Christians also, have gotten lazy and fat...between the ears. Both groups are wrong on Passover, Christians on the day of Birth and Resurrection.
We simply are using the Roman calendar or the Babylonian calender, both groups who ruled OVER the Hebrews and held them as slaves or captives. Passover symbolized death passing over the observant, and passing over Christ followers. We ignore the true dates at our peril.
About one-third of Russia lacks indoor plumbing, and a washing machine is a high-status appliance.
Gotta make mom happy, that and not dying for his country.
Nah, I doubt it. Putin has nothing to gain and a lot to lose by killing thousands of foreign national tourists. He can focus on other things for 2 days.
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