- September 11, 2026
- 9:45 pm
- World News
In Uman this year, something happened that even the organizers did not seriously expect a few days ago. The city was preparing for about 40,000 pilgrims for Rosh Hashanah 5787, but on the morning of September 11, 2026, the Ukrainian side reported more than 45,000 arrivals. A few hours later, Israel Hayom published a new figure — about 52,000 people — and called it an absolute record for pilgrimage to Uman.
Author: Stas Shifer
Here, one caveat is needed, otherwise the loud number can easily turn into inaccurate news. Over 45,000 is an estimate reported on the morning of September 11 to the Ukrainian public broadcaster ‘Suspilne’ by a representative of the Rabbi Nachman Foundation. The data on 52,000 was received by Israel Hayom later, but the publication does not specify which state or public structure provided this statistic. Therefore, it is more correct to say: Ukrainian sources confirm more than 45,000 pilgrims, Israel Hayom reports about 52,000.
Even the lower of these numbers already goes beyond the usual limits.
In 2022, after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, about 23,000 pilgrims came to Uman. In 2023 — approximately 35–37 thousand, in 2024 — about 34 thousand, and last year the number again approached 40 thousand. The current 45–52 thousand means that the war, the closed Ukrainian sky, the long road through neighboring countries, and regular air raids have not reduced the flow. On the contrary.
Most of this Uman now came from Israel
For the Israeli reader, the most important number here is not even the total 52,000.
According to the executive director of the ‘Historical and Cultural Center of the City of Uman’ Irina Rybnytska, approximately 80% of the pilgrims this year came from Israel. The rest are mainly from the USA, Canada, and European countries. If this proportion is maintained in the final statistics, we are talking about tens of thousands of Israelis who effectively created a huge Israeli enclave in the center of Ukraine for several festive days.
Uman is located in the Cherkasy region, between Kyiv and the central part of the country, near one of the main Ukrainian highways Kyiv — Odessa. For those who remember pre-war trips, the current logistics look completely different. A plane from Ben Gurion can no longer land in Kyiv or another Ukrainian airport: Ukraine’s civilian airspace has been closed since February 2022.
Therefore, first Moldova, Romania, Poland, or another neighbor of Ukraine, then a bus, car, or train, the border, and a few more hours of travel. One pilgrim from New York told Ukrainian journalists that it took him about two days to get to Uman and cost about two thousand dollars per person. For many Israelis, the route is a bit shorter, but it is also not easy to call it simple.
And yet they go.
Why exactly Uman — and why it cannot simply be replaced by another synagogue
From the outside, it sometimes looks like an annual mass trip of religious Jews to a small Ukrainian town. For Breslov Hasidism, the meaning is completely different.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov was born in 1772, was the great-grandson of Baal Shem Tov — the founder of Hasidism — and created his own direction. He spent the last months of his life in Uman, where he died in 1810 and was buried. Rosh Hashanah occupied a special place in his teachings even during his lifetime: students came to celebrate the holiday next to their mentor, and after his death, they continued to gather near his grave.
Thus, the famous Breslov ‘Kibbutz Rosh Hashanah’ appeared. Here the word ‘kibbutz’ does not mean an agricultural commune like an Israeli kibbutz, but a large religious gathering.
There is another feature. After the death of Rabbi Nachman, Breslov did not have the next rebbe to replace him in the usual Hasidic dynasty. The connection with Nachman remained at the center of the movement. Therefore, for a believer, the phrase ‘if it is dangerous in Ukraine, pray somewhere in Israel’ does not sound as simple as it does to an outsider. NAnovosti previously detailed why even the appearance this year of ‘alternative Uman’ near Kinneret did not cancel the mass trip to Ukraine.
On the morning of September 11, prayers were already beginning in Uman. On the same day, a mass prayer of Tikkun HaKlali was scheduled — a special sequence of ten psalms, which is given great importance in the Breslov tradition. Community representatives say that for the fourth year in a row, they pray here not only for themselves and their families but also for peace in Ukraine.
And in the evening, Rosh Hashanah 5787 begins.
Between prayer and siren
Here Uman-2026 ceases to be an ordinary religious chronicle.
Rosh Hashanah takes place in a state where there is a great war. The Cherkasy region is far from the current front line, but Russian missiles and drones also reach here. Only on the morning of September 10, the regional authorities reported the destruction of three Russian UAVs over Cherkasy. And in April 2023, a Russian missile hit a residential nine-story building directly in Uman — 23 people died, including six children.
Therefore, the Ukrainian requirement to go to shelter during an air raid is not a formality for foreigners.
NAnovosti — Israel News | Nikk.Agency even before the mass arrival of pilgrims, detailed the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s memo for a trip to Uman. The ministry advised finding out in advance where the nearest shelter is, always having a charged phone and power bank, getting insurance, and following the requirements of Ukrainian security forces.
There was a slight confusion with the curfew. The August memo from the Israeli Foreign Ministry featured the interval 00:00–05:00. The current regime of the Cherkasy region, confirmed by the regional administration, is from midnight to 04:00. This is the interval now indicated by Israel Hayom. On-site, you should not rely on an old screenshot in Telegram or a message from a friend, but on the current instructions of the Ukrainian police.
Israeli police officers work together with Ukrainian ones
There are 17 Israeli police officers in Uman itself. According to Israel Hayom, the Israeli group is led by police lieutenant colonel Dmitry Samush. They work together with Ukrainian colleagues, and the arrival of Israelis took place at the request of the Ukrainian police.
For Uman, this is already a worked-out model, but the scale of this year is noticeably larger. The operation involves the Ukrainian police, the National Guard, border guards, rescuers, and other services. On September 5, a combined detachment of Ukrainian law enforcement officers arrived in the city, and the National Police separately emphasized: the task is not only to respond to violations but also to control traffic, roads, and quickly change the regime if the situation worsens.
We have already told how Israeli police officers began joint patrols in Uman. Then the main question was whether the city would cope with the expected approximately 40,000 guests. Now the question has changed slightly: how does this system work when the initial forecast has already been exceeded.
From September 4 to 17, a special regime of entry, exit, and movement operates in Uman. In several directions, transport is completely restricted, in others, reinforced checkpoints are in operation. In the area of residence of pilgrims, people and cars are controlled, some potentially dangerous items and pyrotechnics are prohibited. This is not a ‘closed Jewish quarter,’ as sometimes written on social networks, but a temporary zone of enhanced security around a huge mass event.
Checks there are quite real. The head of one of the control shifts told ‘Suspilne’ that people were found with FPV drones. The weapons that were found during the inspection, according to him, mostly turned out to be children’s. But in a country that is attacked every night by Russian drones, even someone else’s FPV in a bag is not something a policeman will ignore.
A city that becomes different in a few days
There is another Uman, less visible from police reports.
In normal times, this is a Ukrainian city of about 80,000 residents. And then, in a matter of days, a population the size of half the city arrives — with their prayer halls, kosher kitchens, buses, shops, music, street trade, doctors, volunteers, and thousands of people who need somewhere to sleep and something to eat.
Housing prices during the holiday period, according to Ukrainian journalists, range from nine thousand to one hundred thousand hryvnias per day — depending on location and conditions. Everything located near the grave of Rabbi Nachman and the central streets of the pilgrimage quarter is especially valued.
Food here is not counted by pots. Large charitable kitchens can simultaneously serve thousands of people. Local residents work in kitchens, hotels, transportation, and trade; inspectors monitor sanitation, rescuers — for fires and water bodies. As of September 10, eight stationary rescue posts were operating in the pilgrimage area. They already had to respond to a fire and rescue children stuck in elevators.
It’s a rather strange picture if you see it for the first time. On one street, Hebrew, Yiddish, and Ukrainian; in several blocks, tens of thousands of men pray; nearby, documents and buses are checked. Somewhere a festive table is being prepared, and the phone must be charged at the same time in case of an air raid.
Ukraine first warned — then began to prepare for those who would still come
There is no contradiction in this.
Ukrainian authorities warned in the summer that during the full-scale Russian aggression, it is impossible to guarantee the safety of tens of thousands of foreign citizens. The Israeli Foreign Ministry also did not promise pilgrims a safe tourist trip — it issued a practical guide to behavior in a warring country.
At the same time, it was clear: tens of thousands of people would still go.
Therefore, negotiations were held in parallel with religious organizations, the Israeli police, Ukrainian security structures, and local authorities. In early September, representatives of the Breslov community even publicly thanked Ukraine for helping organize the pilgrimage during the war.
As a result, a rather unusual model emerged. The state tells foreigners: the trip is dangerous. But if you decide to go — here is border control, bus routes, police, rescuers, traffic restrictions, and additional housing requirements.
And then not 40,000 people arrive, for whom all this was calculated, but possibly already 52,000.
What this record means
Do not romanticize the risk. 52,000 people in one area do not make Russian missiles less dangerous and do not add shelters to Uman. The record does not cancel the war.
But it quite clearly shows the significance of Uman for the Breslov movement — especially for its Israeli part. After the pandemic, after the closure of the Ukrainian sky, after several years of Russian invasion, and against the backdrop of a difficult road, the pilgrimage has not returned to pre-war levels. It seems to have exceeded it.
The final figure is still to be awaited from the Ukrainian authorities and services, which will be able to compile statistics after the end of the holiday. Today, however, we can record what has already been confirmed: on the morning of September 11, there were more than 45,000 pilgrims in Uman, most of whom came from Israel. Israel Hayom reported a few hours later about 52,000 and a record for all time observations.
And all this is happening in several realities at once. In Israel, Rosh Hashanah begins. In Uman, tens of thousands of people go to the grave of Rabbi Nachman. Ukrainian and Israeli police go on joint patrols. And over Ukraine, Russian drones still rise.