Israel Foreign Ministry asked Ukraine to bring Rabbi Nachman's remains to Israel

2017/11/9 16:52:50

Israel has been making covert efforts to bring the remains of the venerated late Rebbe Nachman from Uman, Ukraine, to Israel.

 

Photo: A typical scene at the Nachman tomb in Uman at Rosh Hoshanah

 


From RISU, Nov 7, 2017:

 

Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely instructed Ambassador to Ukraine Eliav Belotzercovsky to raise the issue with the appropriate officials in Kyiv half a year ago, Hotovely’s spokeswoman, Lena Bakman, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.

 

Rebbe Nachman, founder of the Breslov Hassidim, was born in the city of Medzhybizh in 1772 and died in Uman in 1810. Since then, Uman has become a mecca for Breslovers, the name by which his followers are known. Some 150,000 people visit Rebbe Nachman’s grave every year, making it an important tourism site for Ukraine.

 

Rabbi Aryeh Lippo, a member of the Breslov Hassidim involved in the efforts, told Army Radio “It’s illogical that half of Israel leaves the country every Rosh Hashana.” Thousands of Israelis visit the rabbi’s grave on Rosh Hashana.

 

Ukrainian Jewish Committee director Eduard Dolinsky told the Post he doubted Kyiv would agree to relocate the grave.

 

“It’s a kind of national treasure, bringing millions of dollars every year to the state and city budgets as well as to Uman inhabitants,” he said.

 

Dolinsky noted, however, that some nationalistic groups, such as the Freedom Party, do support the move, “because of chaos caused by the pilgrimage and general anti-Semitic views.”

 

Around the time of the annual pilgrimage, there are often cases of anti-Semitism in Uman.

 

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*The article above appears through courtesy of the Religious Information Service of Ukraine. Access RISU at http://risu.org.ua/en/index

 

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