September 20, 2023

Pilgrimage Under Shelling: "Shana Tova" From Uman


Pilgrimage Under Shelling: "Shana Tova" From Uman
Hassidic Jews celebrating Rosh Hashanah in Uman, Ukraine. Liz Cookman, Twitter.

At nightfall on September 15, families worldwide sweetened apples with honey to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, 35,000 Hassidic Jews pilgrimaged to Uman, Ukraine, to celebrate this holiday at Rabbi Nachman of Breslov's grave.

Every Rosh Hashanah since Rabbi Nachman died in 1810, male followers visit his grave in Uman to celebrate one of the most important holidays in Judaism. Even during the Soviet era, when overt displays of religion were forbidden, Hassidic Jews carried out the pilgrimage in secret, without public displays of prayer.

In 2022 and 2023, the Israeli and U.S. governments advised followers against traveling to Ukraine because of safety concerns, but packed buses still flocked to the city. Uman's street signs were changed from Ukrainian to Hebrew. Social media users posted videos of pilgrims dancing and singing in the city. Believers held a public prayer for Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials set up checkpoints across the city, and extra security measures were enhanced to protect the pilgrims. The Israeli police also participated in security efforts. Yet, according to The Times of Israel, in a meeting with Ukraine's rabbis, President Volodymyr Zelensky said: "I will try to take care of Israelis on their way to Uman. But if Israel were to send [the] Iron Dome, there would be a way to protect those Israelis." 

The festival did not come without inconveniences. One Israeli citizen was arrested after colliding with another car and killing a Ukrainian citizen. Four other Israelis were detained at a checkpoint for cannabis possession.

You Might Also Like

Notes at the Front

Notes at the Front

Musicians have not been spared from the criminalization of protest and expression. We also share Ilya Yashin's final words.
Leave or Die
  • August 15, 2023

Leave or Die

In which we visit a "typical" Siberian town and dig into the issues and people who live there.
To Stay and Survive
  • August 15, 2023

To Stay and Survive

A filmmaker Elizaveta spent months riding Russia’s rails and discussing the war with fellow travelers.
ROC: Pacifism is Heresy
  • June 15, 2023

ROC: Pacifism is Heresy

A Russian Orthodox priest called for peace. In response, the church said pacifism is "incompatible" with Orthodox teachings.
Russian Genealogy
  • June 01, 1997

Russian Genealogy

If you have family roots in Russia, you are in good company. Between 1820 and 1992, according to INS data, some 3,512,332 individuals immigrated to the United States from Russia, most of them around the turn of the century (2.5 mn between 1897 and WWI).
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Steppe / Степь

Steppe / Степь

This is the work that made Chekhov, launching his career as a writer and playwright of national and international renown. Retranslated and updated, this new bilingual edition is a super way to improve your Russian.
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.
Driving Down Russia's Spine

Driving Down Russia's Spine

The story of the epic Spine of Russia trip, intertwining fascinating subject profiles with digressions into historical and cultural themes relevant to understanding modern Russia. 
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955