[ad_1]
Every year, as Jews celebrate the New Year, tens of thousands of Khazis arrive in the city of Uman in central Ukraine to visit the grave of the legendary Cadic Nachman Braclavieti, the pioneer of the Braclavian leadership of Hasidism.
This year, the Jewish New Year is celebrated from September 18 to 20.
The pilgrims did not give up their trip, although last month the governments of Ukraine and Israel urged the Khazis not to go to 80,000 this year. population in Uman, fearing an outbreak of coronavirus infection.
Itsik Cohen, an ultra-Orthodox pilgrim stranded on the Ukraine-Belarus border, told AFP that believers expect divine intervention.
“I am waiting and praying that they will open the wall and that we can be with our rabbi, God willing,” said the bras of Braclav’s management from Jerusalem.
“We believe in God, so if God wants it, we must do everything possible until the last minute to show our determination,” he said.
Ukrainian officials say the situation has not changed since Monday, when crowds of believers who still refused to leave began collecting at the border with Ukraine.
“They are dancing, singing, praying,” Andriy Demchenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s border guard, told AFP.
According to him, about 1,000 faithful await the border crossings between Belarus and Ukraine, and even more in Belarus.
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox ruling coalition has lobbied Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to maintain the religious tradition, despite objections from health officials to the growing risk of coronavirus in people’s gatherings.
Call to go home
But on Thursday, an Israeli minister said that efforts to allow believers to reach Uman had failed.
“Ukraine has announced that it will not allow entry through the border crossings … I urge our citizens to return to Israel and follow quarantine instructions upon arrival,” Zeev Elkin, Minister of Higher Education and Water Resources, wrote on Twitter. born in Ukraine.
To prevent the spread of the coronavirus in countries, Ukraine closed its borders to foreigners in late September and Israel is introducing a three-week quarantine starting Friday.
Israel will be the first in the developed world to declare a nationwide quarantine for the second time.
However, the worshiper I. Cohen rejected the Israeli minister’s call.
“Elkin does not determine reality, there is God in the world,” he said.
The Belarusian Border Guard reported that 1,216 people, including 337 children, have been trying to enter Ukraine since Monday.
The meeting of the Khazis on the border has caused tensions in diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Belarus.
Ukrainian officials on Wednesday accused Belarus of giving the faithful unfounded hopes of entering Ukraine despite existing restrictions. According to them, Belarus is making “false statements of encouragement” and spreading “rumors” that Ukraine may still open its border to foreigners.
Minsk called on Kiev to engage in dialogue with the pilgrims and respect their rights.
According to the Ukrainian police, almost 3,000 Hasidian Jews have already arrived in Uman for the holidays. Law enforcement officials have taken tighter security measures at Nachman Braclaviet’s grave, where worshipers gather.
More than 166 thousand people are officially registered in Ukraine. cases of coronavirus, 3,400 of which were fatal.
On Thursday, a record 3,584 COVID-19 cases per day were recorded in the country.
It is not allowed to publish, quote or reproduce the information of the BNS news agency in the media and on websites without the written consent of the UAB “BNS”.
[ad_2]
