No doubt people have mixed feelings about those who choose to journey to the heart of the Ukraine to daven and celebrate Rosh HaShana near the tziyun of Rabbi Nachman of Breslev (1772-1811). It has been my personal custom since I left the pulpit rabbinate in 2004 to join this ever growing pilgrimage, currently at over 30,000 people, who make their way there mostly from Israel but also from the US, UK, Canada, etc. This year traveling from Israel made it a much easier and affordable trip. The motivation to leave the comforts of one’s home and family is based on the promise of this great tzaddik, that all those who join his prayer gathering for Rosh HaShana will facilitate t’shuva and g’zerios tovos for themselves and for the entire Jewish people. Rabbi Nachman attested to his soul’s ability to accomplish these goals in ways are unattainable at any other time of year, or perhaps, at any other place. Whatever your feelings are (and usually people have very strong opinions about this gathering, pro or con), let me describe to you my experience and perhaps it will give you some inspiration and benefit for the year ahead.
Uman is located in the center of the Ukraine, south of Kiev, and north of Odessa. The hamlets of Breslev and Nemirov, the primary residences of Rabbi Nachman and his key disciple, Rabbi Nosson, in their lifetimes, are less than a day’s buggy ride away, by car maybe an hour or two. Uman was the site of the largest pre-Holocaust massacre of Ukrainian Jews, by the Haidemacks in the generation before Rabbi Nachman was born. It is speculated that some 40,000 Jews died there al kiddush HaShem. At that time, given the choice by the Haidemacks to bow down before a Russian Orthodox crucifix, the Jews, all declined, and were all eventually slaughtered. (Later, during the Nazi period, Babi Yar, a grassy ravine located on the outskirts of Kiev, was the site of the mass-murder of some 100,000 Jews, eclipsing Uman as the site of the greatest single Ukrainian Jewish tragedy.)
Rabbi Nachman chose Uman as his final resting place to serve as a merit for those lost and cherished souls. He believed that his death and burial among them would serve as a tikkun for them. Theologically, Rabbi Nachman spent the last couple of years of his brief life (he died of tuberculosis at age 39) focusing his energies on ways to help all lost Jewish souls find their rectification. He offered his now famous remedy, known as the Tikkun K’lali, 10 Psalms (16, 32, 41, 42, 59, 77, 90, 105, 137 & 150) recited as a unit, which he taught have the collective power to remove the stains of sin, particularly those of a sexual nature, from one’s soul. The revelation of this tikkun along with Rabbi Nachman’s famed “Tales from Ancient Days” (Sippurei Ma’asiyos), a collection of fables filled with Kabbalistic allusions and lessons, but written in a form accessible to anyone, were among his most precious spiritual achievements. From 1811 onward, students of Rabbi Nachman gathered in Uman for Rosh HaShana prayers to fulfill their Rebbe’s wishes to “stay among them.” The kibbutz (gathering, as it is known), is viewed as the congregation supporting the Rebbe’s soul in petitioning on behalf of all those gathered and on behalf of all of K’lal Yisrael.
In the Soviet era, beginning about 1920, it became almost impossible for Jews from Poland and elsewhere to travel freely to Uman. Gatherings were held in Warsaw, Jerusalem and later Meiron, for the small group of faithful who yearned to connect with the Rebbe but had no possibility of getting there. The Jews in the Soviet province of the Ukraine were tormented, tortured, exiled and otherwise intimidated in their efforts to create a prayer gathering as had been their tradition for over a century. During the Nazi period, the Nazis, y’mach sh’mam, slaughtered Uman’s remaining Jewish community. During pitched battles between Nazi and Soviet forces, the old Jewish cemetery in Uman was destroyed, including the small structure over the Rebbe’s grave. Miraculously, the few remaining Jews were able to identify the site of Rabbi Nachman’s burial plot, which was located in the cemented backyard of a small residential home. For several decades, through the 1980’s, brave pioneers and old-time Breslev chassidim risked life and limb to keep a tiny kibbutz of at least a minyan going, bribing the non-Jewish owner of the home to allow them brief access to pray and prostrate themselves on the Rebbe’s grave.
During the Carter Administration in the 1980’s, it was revealed that the Soviets planned to demolish the small houses built over the Jewish cemetery and erect a large apartment complex. The non-Jewish woman who owned the house next to Rabbi Nachman’s grave notified the Breslever chassidim that she was going to be evicted and would be given an apartment in the high-riser that would be built over her home. This meant that access to Rabbi Nachman’s grave would be restricted forever. Through some miraculous divine assistanc, two great American Orthodox Jewish leaders, Rabbi Moshe Sherer of Agudas Israel and Rabbi Pinchas M. Teitz, Rav of Elizabeth NJ, intervened with Carter’s Jewish advisor, Robert Lipschitz. Through diplomatic channels Carter’s team convinced Brezhnev and the Communists to spare this holy site (this entire incident is document in Rabbi Teitz’s personal biography, and I have also head a detailed version of this remarkable story from Rabbi Nosson Maimon, who was intimately involved in that process, see his website, breslovtorah.com).
With the fall of the Soviet empire in the 1990’s, Uman was once again open for Jewish visitors. From a modest gathering of about 1,000 people in 1989, the number has steadily increased to some 30,000 people. All this, despite the growing anti-Semitic agitation of the Svoboda party, which now has 10% of the seats in the Ukrainian parliament. This year, far rightists planted a large cross at the traditional tashlich site around a lake, just a few hundred yards from the main synagogue, known as The Kloiz. Undeterred, other tashlich gatherings took place undisturbed at other locations. Some 500 Ukrainian soldiers and police made sure that the group was protected and safe from these neo-Nazis at all times. I find it so incredible and even astounding how the Ukrainians, influenced by relations with Israel and for their own monetary gain, now protect us and make sure that we can daven and enjoy Yom Tov. What a remarkable irony, as many of these soldiers and police had parents or grandparents that may have participated, or at least encouraged or failed to resist, the persecutions of years past.
I arrived in Uman Monday night and immediately was able to attend inspiring classes by such teachers as Rabbi Shalom Arush of “Garden of Emunah” fame and Rabbi Elazar Mordechai Kenig of Tsfat. Uman is not only a place of joyous davening, but has become a well-oiled machine of dozens and dozens of ongoing shiurim and lectures, including Daf Yomi and Avos U’Vanim for children. My residence was at the Uman Inn, probably one of the nicest of the hotel/inns available. Some 150 of us, mostly American and English speakers, spent the Yom Tov together there, along with Rabbi Lazer Brody and other guest speakers. Uman’s most impressive chesed beyond the ubiquitous tz’dakah collection and distribution is Lazer (Louie) Shiner’s massive dining hall, which fed countless thousands of people every meal prior to, during and after Yom Tov. Free food was distributed to all on the two days prior to Rosh HaShana and for those who bought meal tickets for Yom Tov. Large metal structures housed numerous dining rooms, each of which boasted some 30 tables or more, with a number hanging over each table. The crowd control was better than any American theme park. Mr. Shiner’s entourage, sporting orange baseball caps with Uman logos, directed traffic, using crowd counters to manage the flow of people through the labyrinth of passageways and filledeach row of each table in an orderly fashion. I have never seen a Jewish public event, or any event, better organized than this. The tables were preset with bread, salads, and plastic ware. As people filed by the kitchen they were handed a Styrofoam container filled with hot food, which was rather tasty and well prepared. I even saw someone wearing a Chief Chef’s smock! Mr. Shiner and his crew have taken this on as a massive annual project whose costs are in the millions of dollars. It is truly a kiddush HaShem to see the hachnosas orchim, the warmth and the love and the ruach that pervade there.
At the tziyun, thousands at a time enter the structure over Rabbi Nachman’s graveside, reciting the Tehillim and the Tikkun K’lali, learning, davening, singing and dancing. This is the heartbeat of Uman and the epicenter of all activities and it throbs with enrgy 24/7. I, for one, have always had the mazel (maybe because of my will and modest size) to penetrate the crowds and reach the actual site and be able to offer my prayers at the actual gravesite, no small feat. Each time I managed to get through I felt as if a loving embrace was encompassing me, I felt very privileged that these moments were available to me.
The Kloiz which houses 5-6,000 daveners exploded into song and thunderous applause at various points in the davening (HaMelech HaKadosh). My personal favorite was Friday night, during L’cha Dodi, when everyone sang together with great joy at the privilege of having made it to Uman.
But most importantly, as much as it is a communal event, the individual stories shine through. For example, there is the story of the Frankenwich family, from suburban Georgia, which is led by 6’4” Mordechai. He knew that he had Jewish roots but was raised in Protestant Georgia not knowing the difference between Judaism and Christianity. Self-educated Mordechai began to question his teachers, peppering them with seeming inconsistencies in the messages and information contained in the Jewish Bible vs. the “New Testament.” Mordechai was thrown out of church after church for asking too many difficult questions. Eventually he and his family tried a Messianic church, J for J, which they thought would be more appropriate, given their Jewish roots. Soon he was barred from the church premises for suggesting that their real mission should be not to convert Jews but to convince Jews to keep Judaism! On their own, they began to live as halachically observant Jews, finding their guidance from ArtScroll and other Jewish publications. Mordechai, a farmer and an aeronautical engineer, committed himself and his family to complete halachic practice. After a period of time, when he observed Tisha B’Av alone with his family, it occurred to him that he needed to be part of a wider community. He reached out to a neighboring Orthodox Jewish community, and was allowed for a period of time to drive the 100 miles from his home to the shul and attend Talmud classes. The local rabbis determined that since Mordechai could not prove his Jewish roots, he and his family would need to go through a formal Jewish conversion process, which was not available in that area. Eventually, they met Rabbi Lazer Brody who helped them find Orthodox Jewish rabbis who were willing to work with them. As of this Rosh HaShana they will be making aliya to Israel, where Mordechai plans to study Torah full time in a kollel in Yerushalayim.
Another individual I met was young Isaac T, a former fashion model, who broke off his relationship with his super-model girlfriend to seek his Jewish roots in Israel. Having lived the life that most American youth idolize: fame, fortune, riches, clubbing, fashion and consorting with the young and beautiful, he now has no remorse for leaving his Park Ave. suite for a small yeshiva dormitory in Yerushalayim. His sunny personality, and hysterical humor, have endeared him to his Israeli yeshiva bochur friends. He sees his mission now as convincing his peers that his former lifestyle was not anywhere as fulfilling as his new life as a Torah observant Jew.
For me personally, this Rosh HaShana was one of the more special ones. What I worked on in my personal prayers, was the ability to maintain a sense of simcha throughout the year ahead. As I prepared to leave for Uman on Monday, I was uncertain as late as Sunday morning, whether or not a war was being scheduled on the day of my departure! When President Obama announced the delay in the upcoming military festivities in Syria, I was free to go! I spent two days the previous week, Monday and Thursday, along with my wife, spending hours and hours in physical lines, to get gas masks for each member of our family. Given the vicissitudes of life here in Israel, one needs to maintain a sense of calm, and always, a sense of humor and simcha. More importantly, an utmost faith in HaShem that all the events that swirl around us are all gam zu l’tova, all for the good (see the attached Torah article I wrote on this subject in honor of Yom Kippur).
I came up with the following prayer/mantra as a way of introducing joy even to the deep recesses of our hearts and minds that maybe dark and troubled due to various worries and experiences, both past and present:
תדליק אור טהור בחור הבור השחור שבציפור נפשי.
This Hebrew alliteration means: May HaShem light a pure and holy flame into the deepest, darkest places of my wounded essential soul. I shared this with one of my fellow travelers who was going through a very rough time, he said it gave him a lot of strength and that he used the imagery in his prayers of a healing light entering every place of worry, depression and fear that he harbored and cleansed them. He said he also shared the prayer with many others.
It is my fervent wish that we all experience a year of spiritual rejuvenation and much joy. Uman was a battery recharge for me, a much needed one, after a very exhausting and challenging first year in Israel. We are so grateful to be here, and now as we catch our breath heading towards year two, with all of its uncertainties, we hope to carry the light of Rosh HaShana with us. Ironically, my wife reported to me that the oil candle that she lit on the first night of Yom Tov inexplicably remained lit for over 24 hours (they are designed to last for about 6-10 hours at best)! I was gratified to think that the “miracle” of light in our home meant that my prayer/mantra in Uman was well received above. It is that light that I and my family wish to share with you for the year ahead.
