Head of the "Committee to Bring Rebbe Nachman to Burial in Israel" Sharon Tal-Tzur has turned to the government with an urgent request to expedite the transfer of the Rebbe's remains to this country.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslav died at the age of 38 and was buried in Uman, in the Ukraine, in 1810. Today, thousands of Jews from around the world, with the vast majority of them from Israel, make an annual pilgrimage to Uman to celebrate Rosh HaShana there.
The impetus for the current request is the coronavirus which is likely to curtail this year's annual pilgrimage to Uman due to restrictions on air travel.
The letter in which the request was sent included quotations from Rebbe Nachman indicating that his true wish was to be buried in the Land of Israel.