Everyone has an opinion about the merits of this spiritual pilgrimage for the High Holydays. And now, during the weeks before Rosh Hashana, people deem this the perfect time to stake out these opinions once again.
“For the life of me I don’t understand what people are looking for there?”
“Are there not enough kivrei tzadikkim in Israel that we need to travel to Ukraine?”
“It really smells of idol worship!”
These are just some of the refrains in the debates scrolling down my Facebook feed.
And I used to think this way too. Having been born in the former Soviet Union, having experienced Eastern European anti-Semitism first-hand, and having traveled as a child through Ukrainian backwaters every year, I just could not wrap my head around the spiritual lure of this backwards part of the world.
Until I went there myself. Having led dozens of women on trips to Uman and other hassidic sites of Ukraine I can say with certainty that these experiences are transformational. People who make the trip once, crave to do it all over again. Here’s why.
To understand the pull of hassidic Ukraine you need to understand the roots of the hassidic movement. When the Baal Shem Tov arrived on the scene in mid-17th century the Jewish population of Eastern Europe was swayed by cataclysmic events and philosophical trends.
Yet Judaism had little solace or guidance to offer. The community was divided into two layers – a thin upper crust of Talmudic scholars and a larger populace, mostly ignorant of Torah teachings. Millions of simple Jews went through life feeling detached and unworthy in the eyes of God. Even the few lucky Torah scholars lived in a dry cerebral experience, devoid of emotion or psychological tools for dealing with the complexity of the world.
Sounds familiar? These are exactly the same challenges we are facing today.
In the era of swift ideological changes, with dozens of “isms” whirling around us, 80% of world Jewry perceives Tora as archaic and irrelevant having given up on its observance. Even those lucky children receiving Jewish education are immersed into a cerebral experience that does little to foster an emotional bond, so almost a quarter shed the Torah lifestyle behind by the time they grow up.
But above all else, millions of Jews walk around the world feeling that they are not enough. They feel detached and unloved by God, the all-knowing stern “school principal,” keeping tabs on their performance.
And this is where hassidic teachings come in. 300 years ago the Baal Shem Tov and his disciples taught the Jewish masses that every Jew is precious and loved in the eyes of God. That God is always “right here, right now”. That God relates to us like a loving father, who will do everything to help us grow in a productive direction, sometimes with tough love, but always with love.
The hassidic movement breathed life into Torah, reviving its emotional depth and helping every Jew cultivate a relevant, everyday, heart-felt connection with God. This Torah gave the Jewish People the tools, intellectual, emotional, and practical, for dealing with the challenges of the world around them.
Now as then, we face the same challenges and crave the same teachings. Every day, in my coaching practice, I meet women who feel that they are not good enough, that they are not deserving of being loved unless they live up to some criteria, that they do not have the tools to deal with everything that is on their plate, that they don’t know how to move on in their relationships.
And then they travel to Ukraine and visit the Baal Shem Tov’s bet midrash and learn his Torah that everything we see and hear in life is a lesson for our personal development. They pray by the resting place of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak in Berdichev and internalize that every single Jew, starting with themselves, is worthy of being given the benefit of the doubt. Breathing in the serenity of Hadiatch, near the grave of the Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the author of the Tanya, they learn to connect to the Godly soul, while also giving credit to the force of life with its normal, healthy challenges. And then at Rabbi Nachman’s they search for the point of good in everyone and in everything, starting once again with themselves.
Yes, it is possible to learn this Torah in Israel. But there in Ukraine, in the streets walked by the hassidic masters, in their synagogues, and by their wells, these teachings take on a life of their own and pierce the hearts as theoretical learning never could.
With treks lasting only 5 days, I have seen women connect to their own self-worth, experience closeness to God, form life-long bonds of friendship with their fellow travelers, and come back home transformed, with their hearts and souls open wide. It’s an experience so profound, that many are willing to travel back for a refill.
So this is why people go to Uman on Rosh Hashana and year round. As the entire Jewish world will stand trembling before God and when so many of us will feel unworthy, there, near Rabbi Nachman, the seekers will be reminded that deep down they are good, that God acknowledges that good, and perhaps, if they work hard enough, they will merit to find it in themselves.
Leah Aharoni coaches women to discover their God-given life mission and teaches Torah to women. She is the founder of Women For the Wall.