The Breslov hasidic group is preparing to send yeshiva students to Uman, Ukraine, ahead of the holiday of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year), Kikar Hashabbat reported.
The plan aims to circumvent the possibility that last-minute border and airport closures will prevent the annual pilgrimage to Uman, as they did last year.
According to Kikar Hashabbat, the students would fly to Uman at the beginning of the new yeshiva term, which starts in the Jewish month of Elul - one month before the holiday. This would ensure that they are able to spend the holiday by the gravesite of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov.
Under the plan, if there are no last-minute changes, several Breslov high school and post-high school yeshivas are planning to send their students, which together number several hundred, to spend the beginning of the term in various closed campuses around Uman, though some of the students will stay in the city of Berdychiv, Ukraine.
The students and staff are expected to fly to Uman ahead of the first day of Elul, Kikar Hashabbat added.
Many other Breslov hasidim are also planning to fly to Uman early, since last yearmost of them were forced to remain in Israel over the holiday.