Ukraine May Open Airport for Hasidic Pilgrimage
kraine is planning to open a decommissioned airport near Uman for Jewish pilgrims.
The airport of Cherkasy Oblast, the central Ukrainian district where Uman is located, may be reopened as soon as next year, spokesperson Nicholas Sukhovoj told the Israeli Russian-language newspaper Vesti.
The move would help alleviate traffic from the Odessa-Kiev highway that pilgrims currently use to travel to Uman, the burial place of Rebbe Nachman, the founder of the Breslov hasidic movement.
“The airport is in good condition and only needs lights on the runway,” Sukhovoj said.
Some 25,000 pilgrims, many of them from the Breslov movement, converge in Uman each year ahead of the Jewish new year to pray near the Rebbe Nachman’s grave.
The option of running extra trains to Uman is also being discussed, as many visitors reportedly face difficulties in reaching their destination.
Uman Mayor Peter Payevsky told the news site on Thursday that he expected more than 800 buses to arrive in Uman in the coming days, with 7,000 people due to arrive next Tuesday alone.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
