Ukraine has backed down, at least temporarily, from a plan to build a hotel atop a mass grave near the tomb of Rebbe Nachman of Breslev in Uman.
Uman is the city where the founder of the Breslev hassidic sect, Rabbi Nachman, spent the end of his life. He specifically requested to be buried there and during the Rosh Hashanah holiday there is a major pilgrimage by Breslev Hasidim and others to visit his grave. The practice dates back to 1811, the year after Rebbe Nachman died. During the Soviet regime, the pilgrimage was forbidden by the authorities, but was resumed in 1989, before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the crowds in recent years have grown as Breslev Hassidism burgeoned in Israel, particularly among IDF soldiers who become increasingly observant while serving or shortly thereafter.
Jewish activists and historians are seeking to have the site declared an International Heritage Site, protected from new construction. Israel’s Foreign Ministry, upon hearing of Ukrainian plans to construct a hotel 500 feet from the pilgrimage site, expressed strong reservations to Ukraine's ambassador to Israel. The Ministry made the request at the behest of United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush.
Between 30,000 and 50,000 Jews were murdered in various pogroms and massacres in Uman. Ukrainian authorities express skepticism at the existence of the mass-grave at that location and until recently were conducting digs aimed at testing whether the ground could support a multi-story structure. Israel’s Foreign Ministry recommended that various Breslev bodies begin legal proceedings in Ukrainian courts.
Growing Anti-Semitism in Ukraine
The US-based Anti-Defamation League issued a call Thursday for Ukraine to begin responding to several anti-Semitic incidents in the country. A cemetery in Odessa was recently vandalized, with 300 gravestones sprayed with graffiti and smashed.
A Holocaust memorial was defaced, with graffiti reading “congratulations on the Holocaust” sprayed on it. Additionally, an anti-Semitic university group that was ordered closed by the government remains active with several branches, following a Kiev court’s rejection of the order.
The group, called the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (MAUP), promotes anti-Semitic conferences and meeting among academics of the Former Soviet Union.
“Your government must confront MAUP, its leadership and its outlets for its continued anti-Semitic agitation, which leads to an atmosphere where anti-Semitic crimes, such as the desecration of graves in Odessa, may occur,” ADL Director Abraham Foxman wrote to Ukraine’s ambassador.
Uman is the city where the founder of the Breslev hassidic sect, Rabbi Nachman, spent the end of his life. He specifically requested to be buried there and during the Rosh Hashanah holiday there is a major pilgrimage by Breslev Hasidim and others to visit his grave. The practice dates back to 1811, the year after Rebbe Nachman died. During the Soviet regime, the pilgrimage was forbidden by the authorities, but was resumed in 1989, before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the crowds in recent years have grown as Breslev Hassidism burgeoned in Israel, particularly among IDF soldiers who become increasingly observant while serving or shortly thereafter.
Jewish activists and historians are seeking to have the site declared an International Heritage Site, protected from new construction. Israel’s Foreign Ministry, upon hearing of Ukrainian plans to construct a hotel 500 feet from the pilgrimage site, expressed strong reservations to Ukraine's ambassador to Israel. The Ministry made the request at the behest of United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush.
Between 30,000 and 50,000 Jews were murdered in various pogroms and massacres in Uman. Ukrainian authorities express skepticism at the existence of the mass-grave at that location and until recently were conducting digs aimed at testing whether the ground could support a multi-story structure. Israel’s Foreign Ministry recommended that various Breslev bodies begin legal proceedings in Ukrainian courts.
Growing Anti-Semitism in Ukraine
The US-based Anti-Defamation League issued a call Thursday for Ukraine to begin responding to several anti-Semitic incidents in the country. A cemetery in Odessa was recently vandalized, with 300 gravestones sprayed with graffiti and smashed.
A Holocaust memorial was defaced, with graffiti reading “congratulations on the Holocaust” sprayed on it. Additionally, an anti-Semitic university group that was ordered closed by the government remains active with several branches, following a Kiev court’s rejection of the order.
The group, called the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management (MAUP), promotes anti-Semitic conferences and meeting among academics of the Former Soviet Union.
“Your government must confront MAUP, its leadership and its outlets for its continued anti-Semitic agitation, which leads to an atmosphere where anti-Semitic crimes, such as the desecration of graves in Odessa, may occur,” ADL Director Abraham Foxman wrote to Ukraine’s ambassador.