Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, this year thousands of Hasidim from around the world flocked to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslav. They spend the high holidays in mass gatherings and prayers at the "Holy Zion" or "kibbutz" in Uman - the nickname for the annual gathering of Breslav Hasidim at the tomb of Rabbi Nachman.

Over 200 years have passed since Rabbi Nachman passed away, and the question of when and if at all his bones will be brought to Israel and buried in Jerusalem, still lingers. There were dozens of attempts to bury him on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Key figures in Israeli politics tried to intervene on the issue, but the Ukrainian authorities firmly refused, claiming that the tomb is a "national historical asset", and emphasizing that removing his bones from Uman is not on the agenda.

Some Breslovers want Ukraine to sell bones of Rabbi Nachman to Israel http://t.co/ABTyo2DGJA pic.twitter.com/K8FHplHzMk

— Ukraine Business (@UkraineBusines) June 28, 2014

However, it is not only the Ukrainian interest that speaks, even among the Hasidic of Breslav there are those who claim that the Rabbi’s wish was to die in Uman, and so they too oppose the transfer of his bones to Israel. On the other hand, there are Hasidim who claim that this was the Rabbi’s wish while the people of Israel were in exile, as most Jews of the time expected, 'once God returned the Nation of Israel to the Land of Israel, all Jews, dead and alive will return. It is this messianic idea that is used to argue that efforts should be made to bring his bones to Israel.

The reality is, it is not in Ukraine's interest to allow the bones to be moved. Unlike the average set of bones whose descendants have moved them to Israel, Rav Nachman draws hundreds of thousands of people. The Ukrainian government knows this and understands that the economic benefit to their country is significant. One devotee touched on this; "on the part of Ukraine, if the bones are not there it is a huge economic loss. It attracts tourists from all over the world. So why should they release the Rebbe's bones?" said Moshe, who did not want to provide his last name.

Every year, tens of thousands of Hasidim travel to the city of Uman, Cherkassy region, where the founder of Breslov Hasidism, Rabbi Nachman, is buried, to light candles and recite a special prayer of atonement at his grave.#hasidic #moon #newyear #roshhashana #2022moon pic.twitter.com/yGmEfaPzIZ

— Roman (@Romansbali) September 28, 2022

This is the fifth year that Moshe has visited the Rebbe's grave on Rosh Hashanah. "We got through COVID - and now we will also get through the war in Ukraine," he says. "We are not afraid. The Rebbe is watching over us. They are bombing and fighting all around, but Uman is protected."  The fact is, with tourism as it is during the war, Uman is fiercely protected by the Ukrainian army because it is a needed economic and even moral boost at a time when no one but aid agencies and NGO personnel is flying into the country. The fact many consider this to be a religious pilgrimage has only emboldened them to come during a war; some followers even feel the spiritual 'reward' is greater because they braved danger to come.

About half a year before the death of Rabbi Nachman, he moved to the city of Uman and told his followers that "Uman is a good place to be buried." Before he died on October 16, 1810, he promised that "he who comes to my grave and says ten psalms, and gives a penny to charity for me, even if his own iniquities and sins have increased, then I will make an effort and try far and wide to save him and fix him.”

Leonid Kravchuk, who served as president of Ukraine, pledged that he would allow the bones to be removed from Uman, however, following the strong opposition within the Ukrainian government as well as a large faction of Breslav followers, he withdrew the commitment.

From the scale of the pilgrimage to Uman, you would think Rabbi Nachman was the only Jew buried here. Not far from town, at the end of a muddy track in a forest, a mass grave of a 1000 Jewish children shot here by the Germans in 1942. pic.twitter.com/ZR2ivponjf

— Anshel Pfeffer אנשיל פפר (@AnshelPfeffer) September 11, 2018

Kravchuk let down many with his flip-flop and it sparked a movement. Many Breslav Hasidic members who had lobbied for the relocation under the banner called "Ved Zion Rabbeinu in Eretz Israel" embarked on a public awareness campaign under the slogan "Let My Rabbi Go", similar to the slogan of the campaign for the release of Zionist prisoners in Soviet prisons which in itself was taken from the biblical Book of Exodus when Moses told Pharoah to "let my people go."

"Release Rabbi Nachman to the Land of Israel," the committee wrote to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, "Rabbi Nachman said: 'My place is only the Land of Israel.'" Rabbi Nachman is buried in the land of Uman, where 30,000 Jews were murdered for sanctifying God, and that is where Rabbi Nachman chose to be buried. Now is the time to move it to the tomb of King David, who is one of his descendants. The Star of David is the flag and symbol of the Jewish people, which belongs to the people of Israel, and is a national asset that needs to be returned to its natural place."