Department of Communications of the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, published on August 18, 2020 at 14:00
Full Statement:
At the initiative of the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, Rosh Hashanah has acquired the status of a national holiday in Ukraine.
At the same time, this year’s epidemic situation in Ukraine and Israel, as well as around the world, unfortunately, does not allow us to traditionally celebrate this holiday.
Following the recommendations and warnings of the Ministries of Health of Ukraine and Israel, we urge all pilgrims who plan to take part in this year’s Rosh Hashanah celebrations in Ukraine to refrain from visiting the city of Uman due to the threatening epidemic situation.
However, for those who will decide to visit Uman, we would like to emphasize that quarantine restrictions in Ukraine apply to all public events and must be strictly adhered to.
The governments of the two countries jointly care for the health and safety of their citizens.
We hope for understanding and sincerely believe that next year we will be able to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and other holidays together without any restrictions.
End of Statement
According to this joint statement from Israel and Ukraine, Uman Rosh Hashanah can and will happen. After reading through many different reports on the matter we can present a summary of what we now know:
Both governments are asking Breslov Chassidim nicely to not come to Uman for Rosh Hashana but there is no official legal way to prevent this from happening. Israel cannot let some of their citizens out to travel and others not and Ukraine can’t legally prevent some foreigners from entering when all foreigners are permitted entry.
The earlier reports of Ukraine limiting the number of people allowed into Uman basically means that Ukraine will not allow any charter flights in from Israel. The charter flights are how a majority of Breslov chassidim travel from Israel every year. In this way, there will be fewer people traveling to Ukraine from Israel. Traveling from the US or anywhere else should not be an issue. Once you are in the country, you can go to Uman. If something changes regarding the numbers, we will post it.
Anyone who does make it to Uman for Rosh Hashanah will of course have to follow all the strict rules and regulations while there. Ukraine is said to be publishing all the guidelines tomorrow and we will post accordingly.
