Orthodox Jews pray at the tomb of Rabbi Nachman, the great grandson of the founder of Hasidic movement, in the town of Uman, 200 kilometers south of Ukraine's capital Kiev, Ukraine, Sunday, Sept. 25, 2022. Thousands of Hasidic Jewish pilgrims flocked to central Ukraine to mark the Jewish new year Sunday, ignoring international travel warnings as Russia struck more targets from the air and mobilized its citizens to stem losses in the war that has entered its eighth month.
Some visitors, like Nahum Markowitz from Israel, have been making the journey for years and weren't about to let the war get in the way this year. The city, 200 kilometers south of the capital, Kyiv, typically attracts thousands of pilgrims for Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, which begins in the evening Sunday and ends on Tuesday.
More than 35,000 pilgrims visited last year even in the face of pandemic travel restrictions, said local official Oleh Hanich. Rav Mota Frank, 54, initially had reservations about making the trip from Israel this year. But he decided it was worth the risk after realizing that the situation in Uman is calmer than at the front and seeing how Ukrainians themselves have reacted to the dangers of war.