The pilgrims, already stuck for a few days in transit, have started contacting various MKs and Ministers pleading for assistance, asking for Israeli intervention at the borders with the Romanian authorities... Some have said they are trying to help (though in practice, maybe they are, maybe they arent), while others have been less than helpful saying you were told in advance not to go, there is a war, flights have been canceled by almost all the airlines, there is no way for me to help.

I don't really feel bad for them. This is what they felt they need to do with their dedication to the Uman cause, isnt it? It is all a test to see if they are really dedicated to going to Uman? They need to overcome all challenges and tests and do it anyway - so this is that. There are literally almost no flights to Israel nowadays, besides for all the other travel difficulties, yet they went anyway knowing that.

That being said, if people are in a position of power and are in a position to help, they definitely should. The Breslavers dont need to be punished for their stupidity and left to rot in Romania just because they didnt listen to the travel advisories and pay attention to the war situation. If government officials can work things out with the Romanian authorities and help get them out, they should. It might even require an emergency airlift. I kind of feel saving them is not fair to many other people. People have been stranded all over the world due to canceled flights and Israel did not do anything to help them, leaving them to scramble on their own and pay lots of money to find ways home, but these people who went against all warnings and knowing the current situation should be rescued?

Despite all that, if Israeli officials are in a position to help work things out, they should.

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It looks like a new issue just came up that might run all the work he put in...

According to Hamechadesh, based on the Kiev Post, President Zelenskiyy is considering canceling the visa arangement with Israel that allows Israeli travelers (and Ukranian in the other direction) to travel to Ukraine without first applying for a visa. According to Zelenskiyy, Israel has not helped Ukraine at all in this war with Russia and has, additionally, been too pro-Russia.

Additionally, according to the report, Ukraine suspects Israel of leaking information to Russia from their RAMSTEN meetings, which is an alliance of 54 countries that meet monthly to discuss and coordinate aid to Ukraine. Israel might already have leaked information or they might leak information in the future. Whatever it is, Ukraine seems to be a bit upset at Israel and might take it out by canceling the visa travel arrangement.

It is hard to believe they will cancel it so quickly, quick enough to make trouble for the Breslovers about to embark on their holiday trip in just about a month from now, but with Zelenskiyy one never knows. He can turn on a dime if he thinks it might get Ukraine more military aid. This situation could get interesting very quickly

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I think the same now, with the war in Ukraine.

The PMO, Prime Minister's Office, tried to bring in the heads of the Haredi parties for a consultation to determine policy on travel to Ukraine. It ended up not happening because the Haredi MKs decided there was no point, largely because Breslavers would not listen to them anyway.

In my opinion, Israel can publicize its opinion that people should not travel to the Ukraine, it is unsafe, etc. Whatever they want to say. But anything beyond that is the decision of the pilgrims themselves and the Ukranian government. Every potential pilgrim can decide for himself if he wants to go despite the risks or not. And more importantly the Ukranian government can decide if it wants to let foreign travelers in or not. Israel should not be a part of this situation, except to issue a travel advisory.

Because of the war with Russia, the entire issue is a big question mark. Some in Ukraine have said the pilgrimage wont be allowed this year due to the danger of the war and Ukraine cant take responsibility for having people come into their danger zone, while others have said that region is relatively quiet (even though there was a recent attack in the area) so the pilgrimage will be fine.

According to the report, the Ukranians are saying that if they agree to allow it, it will only be allowed if Israel takes full responsibility for the event, including local security with Israeli police. honestly this sounds weird to me. I get the idea of overall responsibility for Israeli citizens (and Jews from elsewhere somehow represented symbolically by Israel) traveling into a war zone with danger, but they want Israel to send in the police forces and operate on Ukranian soil? That's just weird. Besides for the fact that the Israeli police are barely able to keep things under control in Israel, they want the police to travel to another country and keep things under control there, where they might not even have full authority? 

Either way, it seems funny and ironic that it is Yair Lapid, the big hater of Haredim and lousy prime minister (sarcasm to be noted), who it seems likely will make arrangements for the Breslavers to go to Uman while Netanyahu as PM didnt do anything to help them when Ukraine said no during Covid times... and Ukraine said no when the Israeli officials told it to...

There is a war going on, but that part of the country is supposedly somewhat quieter than some other parts. A little while back Ukranian authorities said Uman would almost definitely be closed this year on Rosh Hashana because of the war and Breslav pilgrims would not be let in - unless the situation changes drastically by the time the holidays roll in.

The Breslavers in general were not happy, and while waiting for better news and maybe a change in the status of the war, they did express belief that Rebbe Nachman would end the war in time for them to travel to an open Uman, but they said they would go anyway and people would find their way in, by hook or by crook.

Now Ukranian authorities, including the mayor of Uman, have said again that Uman will be closed to visitors, there is no way they can allow people in for the holiday. People might think it is ok and be willing to take the risk, but they dont have enough bomb shelters and other resources necessary to keep people safe, and they have to take responsibility because if something should happen with all those visitors, they would be held responsible. 

In general there is disappointment and anger, and some disbelief with many still think Rebbe Nachman will save the situation at the last minute. I am hearing from some Breslavers, and maybe this is the general attitude, that they will find ways to get in despite the ban. They point to Corona when Uman was closed and they got in anyway, but back then only a few slipped through and got in while most were stuck at the border in Belarus (and in other countries)..

I dont know what will happen, but I watch with curiosity. I know the Breslavers will try, but whether they succeed in getting in or not remains the question. Will Rebbe Nachman come through at the last minute?

The Breslav community in Uman is sheltering local residents in the mikva under the "kloyz"

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the investigation has been cancelled because the investigators realized, as many of the Breslavers have been claiming all along, that the local PCR tests in Ukraine had been negative, and the tests upon landing in Ben Gurion airport had been negative for them, while only the MDA, Magen David Adom, tests in Ukraine had been positive. The investigators decided based on the official information they confirmed that there was no fraud and the problem was with MDA testing, not with the Breslavers and any possible fraud. The investigation is closed. The Breslavers returning from Uman did no wrong.

That's great news.

Now I hope they open an investigation into MDA. What was faulty in their testing? With MDA doing a lot of the testing within Israel are there also a lot of false positives and the numbers are totally wrong and unreliable or was the system used in Ukraine different in some way? Was there any intention by MDA to make the Breslavers look bad or was this all innocent? I don't know any of the answers to these questions, but if the government found it necessary to launch an investigation into 150-200 possible fraudulent tests, that should be enough to launch an investigation into MDA now that they have been found to be the source of the problem.

the big item in the news right now is that hundreds of people returning from Uman have allegedly forged PCR test results, and many are actually positive. MDA claims 13.5% have tested positive, while Breslav spokespeople say that is not true, though I don't know how they can know if someone is positive or negative and if MDA is right or wrong without testing the same people or at least a similar sampling, with other testing systems. They might be smart but I doubt they have the power to just look at someone and determine if he is positive or negative. 

Besides for the issue of positives, news media are claiming that many of the Breslavers have forged test results. First, that s not surprising as people all over the place are faking tests for travel and for green passport, along with faking green passports (no, I have no numbers but I have heard a lot of anecdotal talk about this). Second, it is not surprising as many of them do not believe Corona is a real thing anyway.

the thing is, the Breslavers could or should have learned from the prison break terrorists the other day and just used a spoon to dig their way out of the airport without getting tested. then the story would be silenced and the police would try to just make it go away because of the egg on their faces.

wow

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Alas, it was not meant to be. Ukraine stood firm in the decision to not open the border, and shortly before the holiday the disappointed pilgrims were dispersed into different Jewish communities in Belarus where they stayed for the holiday.

The Deputy Minister of the Interior of Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko, posted to Facebook that he expects Belarus to be responsible for cleaning up the mess left by the wannabe pilgrims, as Ukraine had told Belarus that the people would not be let in but Belarus let them come in and to the border anyway, so essentially Belarus is responsible for the mess. 

The pictures Gerashchenko posted of the mess were a bit shocking. That is a pretty bad mess.

Of course this led to statements of disgust as to what the chassidishe pilgrims did, the chilul hashem caused, the lack of responsibility, avoda zara, Uman craziness, etc.

I would just say that the situation there was an unusual one. You had 2000-3000 people camped out with poor and unfavorable conditions on the street and in the woods with few supplies. Such pictures are only natural. This isnt a tourist throwing a candy wrapper on the floor instead of in the garbage can. Additionally, they were carted away at the last minute without much notice (not that the entire sojourn was justified and planned, but still, they were carted away at the last minute) - they were nto really given advance warning and time to clean up. Heck, you don't even see any garbage cans available on the side of the road even if they had wanted to clean up after themselves! According to some reports, the community in Uman sent a truck with cleaning supplies but it was stopped by the Ukranians, but true or not it does not matter. 

Yes, they should have kept it clean all along, but that is somewhat of an unrealistic demand considering the poor conditions they were subject to. 

I am not in favor of the Uman pilgrimage, nor am I opposed to it. Grown adults can do whatever they want and can make their own decisions, regardless of how silly you or I might think that decision is. No matter what I think about the annual pilgrimage to Uman, I don't think anyone can realistically have expected them to keep the area clean. It seems to me to have been an impossible task. Think of walking through a ghetto or area with homeless people or a general "underprivileged" area that receives less than stellar city services, or a refugee camp. You will feel bad for them, not blame them for making a mess. That is what happened here. For 2-3 weeks a few thousand people lived in what was basically a refugee camp with hardly any services and poor conditions. No matter how badly you think of them, cleaning up their mess just wasn't part of the equation.

Some of the pictures include scenes such as these:

This is a very difficult situation.

Two thoughts immediately came to mind when I saw this.

1. is it going to become acceptable, or even encouraged, now to donate to the Red Cross?

2. It is one thing for grown men, adults, to decide to go on some crazy adventure to try to force their way, or sneak, in to a country with closed borders. A grown man wants to go on this adventure, cross through streams and forests and try to bribe their way over the border if sneaking in becomes impossible, that's one thing. But to put little children in this situation? That is criminal. These children n need to be removed form this scene and immediately sent somewhere safe. The families should be investigated by social welfare authorities in the countries from which they came (mostly Israel). This is child endangerment.  

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As weird as the whole scene is, I admire their level of faith and determination. I am not sure what the faith is in, Rebbe Nachman or God or something else, but they believe in something so powerfully they are willing to put themselves on the line to go to Uman to daven near Rebbe Nachman's grave. Some have been sitting in fields and forests for days or weeks trying to sneak over the border, trying to swim through rapdi rivers across borders undetected. Some have sat in jail for their attempts. Bribes have been offered. Some take flights to various countries to try to get in to Uman in a roundabout way and they know the chances are high they will get turned around and sent back. They are very determined and they have total faith that this is what they need to do.

I might not agree with them, but I admire their faith.

I also admire the people who tell us exactly what God wants at this time. Why God sent the pandemic. What God wants us to change. Who God is showing that God is really the boss rather than this leader or that leader. I don't know if they are right or wrong, but I admire the faith they have and the belief they have that they know exactly what God is thinking and doing and planning for us. 

A restaurant in Ukraine, in Uman, hung the following sign on its storefront window:

The sign declares no entry to Chassidim. The proprietor claims it is not anti-semitism but because of CoronaVirus, as you can also see on the sign.

Breslav has really been a hit this year with the documentaries...

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the video was accompanied with a note that the Breslavers in Uman by the site of Rebbe Nachman are tearing down the barriers set up for Corona safety precautions in protest of the guidelines put in place requiring pilgrims to keep distance with limited numbers...

All I can say is that it is funny that anyone thought they would keep the regulations. and it is funny that they think this protest and vandalism will help their case

the Breslavers are advertising now and pleading with President of the USA Donald Trump to intervene with the Ukranians and/or the Israelis to open the borders to Breslavers trying to get to Uman... 

weird

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