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Ukraine:
The Promise
 Author:
(Thomas Noël)
"If you come
to me at Rosh Hashanah, recite the Tikkun HaKlali and share a siddakah
in my name, I will save you from the deepest of hells"
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
It is this promise that
brings Jews from every corner of the globe to the small provincial
town of Uman in the heart of Ukraine to celebrate the coming of
the New Year. Isolated from the outside world for 70 years during
Soviet rule, perestroika and the fall of the iron curtain made it
possible for followers of Rabbi Nachman to celebrate on this sacred
spot.
 Each
year ever-increasing numbers of pilgrims heed the call of the Rabbi
who died in 1810 and is entombed in the town. For a handful of days
the grey streets are overwhelmed with black hats and shtreimels,
long coats and beards, voices spoken in Yiddish and Hebrew as if
the centuries since his death had not passed. Ambivalent army and
police seal off the area around the tomb while local residents rent
out their apartments for a healthy profit and move to families living
in the surrounding countryside.
Nachman moved to Uman
to watch over the souls of thousands of Jews who lost their lives
to Haidamak marauders in 1768. After his death more Jewish blood
was shed in 1917 following the October Revolution and the imposition
of Soviet rule. 17,000 more died under the invading Nazi forces,
aided by the Ukrainian military. It is difficult to imagine a more
poignant location for such celebrations and festivities.
Today Jews are welcomed
into the town. They change their money in gentile banks while the
army watches over the safety of those hunched in prayer. The police
keep a watchful eye on the younger boys to keep a check only on
their youthful exuberance.
Above all, Rosh Hashanah
is a sparkling party and a spiritual cleansing for the Hasidin faithful,
welcoming in the New Year and offering a fresh start and a new beginning.
Uman proves how alive the teachings of the Rabbi are and the increasing
relevance his followers find in them.
Happy New Year
Text: Thomas Noël with John Bradley
Photos: Thomas Noël
thomas.noel@pandora.be
http://lisa.phoar.com/thomas/
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