Rabbi Arush
Rabbi ArushHezki Baruch

Jews visiting the Ukrainian town of Uman are being attacked by locals, with violence spiraling “out of control”, a senior Breslov rabbi in Israel said Monday.

In an interview with Kol Barama radio Monday morning, Rabbi Shalom Arush, who heads the Hut Shel Hesed organization, said that residents of Uman are now systematically targeting Jewish visitors, viewing them as a threat due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“Things have gotten out of control,” said Rabbi Arush. “Right now Uman is closed off, but those Jews who somehow manage to get there are getting beaten by Ukrainian locals who claim that the Jewish visitors are spreading disease.”

Rabbi Arush dismissed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s vow to try to reach a deal with the Ukrainian government to enable some Jews to visit Uman this Rosh Hashanah.

“I only believe in prayer, not in anyone else. The Prime Minister said next to me that there is a compromise plan, but I don’t rely on them at all, they’ve lied again and again in the past.”

Last week, the Ukrainian government announced that it will bar entry to non-citizens starting from September 1st, with the ban running through September 28th, coinciding with the end of the Rosh Hashanah – Yom Kippur holidays, which begin on September 18th and end on the 28th.

In most years, tens of thousands of Jewish pilgrims, mostly Breslov Hasidim from Israel, visit Uman during the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur holidays to pray near the grave of Rabbe Nachman, the founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement.