Reportage

Story: Hasidim Celebrating the 5777th New Year in Uman, Ukraine

October, 6 2016

Hasidim from all over the world gathered in Uman in Ukraine to celebrate the new year at the tomb of Rebbe Nachman. Photographer Serhiy Korovaynyi was in the middle of the celebrations and documented the pilgrimage to the shrine.

Rebbe Nachman, the spiritual leader of Breslov Hasidic Jews, is buried in Uman in Ukraine, and his tomb is a pilgrimage site for his followers. They believe that those who visit Nachman’s tomb on a new year’s night will have luck for the whole year.

In 2016, the New Year, or Rosh Hashanah, was celebrated on October 2 and 3. A record number of Hasidim — over 30,000, which equals one-third on the population of Uman — came to celebrate the 5777th year from the creation of the world.