Uman: Difference between revisions

Personnel of [[Ben Gurion airport]], other Israeli tourists and [[El Al]] pilots have complained about pilgrims abusing drugs and hard liquor and harassing fellow passengers to Ukraine.<ref name="ynetnews.com">[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4863660,00.html Watch: Fighting on Uman-bound flight, shenanigans at Kiev airport] Itay Blumental|Published: 06.10.16, ynetnews</ref><ref name="14065924umanroshhashanah"/> Common complaints from Uman residents relate to the loud noise, singing, rowdiness, widespread drinking, drug use, and fighting the pilgrims cause.<ref name=jpcomplaints /> Locals have also complained about the cordoning off of neighborhoods by police and the internal trade that has developed among pilgrims.<ref name="14065924umanroshhashanah">[https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-first-israel-sets-up-temporary-consulate-in-uman-for-rosh-hashanah/#gs.flpehl In first, Israel sets up temporary consulate in Uman for Rosh Hashanah], [[The Times of Israel]] (29 August 2018)</ref>

The pilgrimage has led to several clashes over the years. In September 2010, several cases of violence and riots broke out among pilgrims after members of the Evangelical Church arrived from [[Odesa]] to preach their faith, leading to 10 pilgrims being deported.<ref name="kp2">{{cite web|last= Interfax-Ukraine|title=Ten Hasidic pilgrims deported from Ukraine|url=https://www.kyivpost.com/article/content/ukraine-politics/ten-hasidic-pilgrims-deported-from-ukraine-82122.html|publisher=[[Kyiv Post]]|date=Sep 10, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818004630/https://www.kyivpost.com/article/content/ukraine-politics/ten-hasidic-pilgrims-deported-from-ukraine-82122.html|archive-date=2019-08-18}}</ref> A few days later, ten pilgrims were deported back to Israel and banned from Ukraine for five years for disrupting public order and causing bodily harm to citizens.<ref name=kp2/> At the end of September 2010, an Israeli was stabbed and killed in an altercation that broke out following the vandalism of a car owned by Jews. Allegedly, his stabbing was a retaliation for the stabbing and wounding of a local (Ukrainian) by an Israeli.<ref>Breslov Hasid murdered in Uman [http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3959826,00.html ynetnews.com]</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Yanukovych orders to control investigation into murder of Israeli citizen in Uman|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/yanukovych-orders-to-control-investigation-into-mu-84010.html|newspaper=[[Kyiv Post]]|date=Sep 27, 2010}}</ref>

In September 2013, three Israeli police officers were deported after getting involved in a bar brawl during the Rosh Hashanah gathering in Uman.<ref>{{cite web|last=Reback |first=Gedalyah |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-cops-sent-home-after-uman-bar-fight/ |title=Israeli cops sent home after Uman bar fight |publisher=Timesofisrael.com |date=2013-09-08 |access-date=2015-05-30}}</ref> In the 2014 pilgrimage, organizers were fined $15,000 by the city of Uman for illegally operating a "tent city" to house 2,500 pilgrims.<ref>{{cite web|last=Reback |first=Gedalyah |url= http://www.timesofisrael.com/uman-fines-jewish-community-for-pilgrims-unlicensed-tent-city/ |title=Uman fines Jewish community for pilgrims' unlicensed tent city |publisher=Timesofisrael.com |date=2014-09-25 |access-date=2015-05-30}}</ref> The controversy is the subject of the 2015 documentary film, ''[[The Dybbuk. A Tale of Wandering Souls]]''.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.polishdocs.pl/en/news/2458/a_tale_of_wandering_souls_-_interview_with_krzysztof_kopczynski |title= "A tale of wandering souls" - interview with Krzysztof Kopczyński|date=29 May 2015|work= Polish Docs|access-date=15 June 2015}}</ref> In 2015, pilgrims staying in a residential tower began tossing rocks and bottles from above onto a car, and when at one point a local policeman's hat was knocked off, police with [[German Shepherd]]s were called to scatter the crowd.<ref name=jpcomplaints>{{cite news|last=Hartman |first=Ben |url=http://www.jpost.com/Jewish-World/Jewish-News/Uman-Riot-erupts-between-pilgrims-and-Ukranian-police |title=Uman: Riot erupts between pilgrims and Ukrainian police - Jewish World - Jerusalem Post |newspaper=The Jerusalem Post &#124; Jpost.com |publisher=Jpost.com |access-date=2015-05-30}}</ref>

In 2010, an Israeli police officer sent to monitor security commented “people"people get drunk and act crazy in the streets, go out to pubs and hit on women and harass them. They do all types of things that they would never do in Israel, but they come out here and feel like they can do it.”"<ref name="jriot1">{{cite news|last=Hartman|first=Ben|title=Uman: Riot erupts between pilgrims and Ukrainian police |url=http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=187695|work=The Jerusalem Post|access-date=10 September 2010}}</ref> [[Anshel Pfeffer]] reported for ''[[Haaretz]]'' in 2018 that an Israeli diplomat told him that "roughly only half of those who come to Uman do so for religious reasons, and the other half are simply the dregs who come to get drunk, take drugs and visit prostitutes," Pfeffer himself did not find any evidence of prostitution in Uman.<ref name="1.6469941MyPilgrimage">[https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-partying-praying-prostitution-and-absolution-at-a-pilgrimage-into-the-jewish-future-1.6469941 My Pilgrimage Into the Jewish Future: Partying, Praying, Prostitution and Absolution in Uman], [[Haaretz]] (15 September 2018)</ref>