You're reading: Annual Hassid pilgrimage boosts Uman economy

UMAN, Ukraine – More than 25,000 Jewish Hassids have celebrated the Jewish New Year in the small Ukrainian city of Uman in what turned out to be one of the most peaceful and well-organized pilgrimages in years.

Hassid pilgrims from more than 20 countries came to mark the 201nd anniversary of the death of revered Jewish prophet Rabbi Nachman, who is buried in the city. This year also stood out in terms of the economic impact for the city of 87,000 people.

“In 2011 we received Hr 500,000 from Hassids for utilities and other services, three times more than in 2010. This year the amount is even more,” says Petro Payevskyi, deputy mayor of Uman, who is in charge of the pilgrimage.

Over the years the pilgrimage has not been without its scandals, including fights that broke out between locals and guests. In 2010 two local men ended up in hospital and eight Hassids were deported in 2011. Local nationalists fanned the flames with demonstrations demanding the remains of Nachman be moved to Israel and the pilgrimage banned.

“This year there were no such calls because nationalists understood that the absolute majority of people in Uman do not support this,” says Volodymyr Hamalytsya, a local journalist who has been covering the pilgrimage for years.

Uman locals have good reasons to like pilgrimage.

According to the estimates of the International Brachlav Hassid Charity Fund, the pilgrimage organizer, each pilgrim spent at least $600 in Uman on shopping, services and rent.

Expensive rents of up to $400 per person for a week are still a boon for locals, but more and more Hassids prefer to buy. According to municipal authorities they now own some 300 apartments and private houses near Pushkina Street.

“As Hassids buy apartments and houses in the area (near Nachman’s tomb) this year there was not even enough Hassids for locals who wanted to rent them their apartments,” says Hamalytsya.

While young people move from the sleepy town of Uman to bigger cities in search of work, around 1,000 Hassids have moved to Uman permanently over the years. Many have started their small business in town, like running shops.

As a group of women finish their work cooking food in the Hassid canteen and leave, several dozen more wait at the eatery’s gate to serve the food. The pilgrimage provides work for an estimated 500 people at the canteen, which offers free food for 11,000 Hassids each day.

The average salary they are paid is good by local standards – Hr 10-12 per hour. The canteen is also pumping money into local farmers’ pockets as Hassids buy massive amounts of vegetables, meat and fruit. Last year they bought 20 tons of potatoes alone.

Hundreds of men are employed as security guards and garbage collectors. Pilgrims also make contributions to local police and emergency service employees to remain on duty in the district around the tomb.

Local retailers seem to be enjoying the pilgrimage, doubling their prices during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

Organization is also getting better with time. While in previous years the lack of garbage collection saw piles of trash rise up, this time dozens of bins were installed in the pilgrimage area. Garbage was collected several times a day and even separate containers for plastic were installed.

Yet Hassids complain that they do not always get a fair deal.

Despite having paid Hr 65,000 to a local water supply company, “there was no water at all” above the 4-5 floors at most of the buildings that Hassids stayed at, said Shimon Baskila, representative of the International Brachlav Hassid Charity Fund. “Some days they turned it on for an hour or so and then it would disappear again,” he added.

Hassids have grandiose plans for the pilgrimage and Uman. Ten years ago they started building the biggest synagogue in the world not far from Nachman’s tomb, but had to stop as funding ran short. Construction has recently resumed.

Plans envision that the synagogue will seat more than 20,000 people and be the world center for the study of Nachman’s teachings. There are also plans to build a huge residence that would be able to host tens of thousands of people.

Local authorities also plan to renovate an abandoned military airport in Uman and have it serve commercial flights.

Kyiv Post staff writer Svitlana Tuchynska can be reached at [email protected].