……. Uman Travel Plan for Draft-Age Yeshivaleit
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara on Friday struck down a government initiative that would have allowed bochurim and yungeleit who did not serve in the army to travel freely to Uman for Rosh Hashanah without fear of arrest at airports or border crossings.
In a sharply worded ruling, Baharav-Miara declared that the arrangement was “contrary to the law” and undermined what she called the state’s obligation to enforce the draft equally. She insisted that the government and its ministers “have no authority” to instruct security agencies to look the other way.
Her announcement sparked fierce criticism from chareidi leaders and askanim. One senior political figure accused the attorney general of “seeking to sow division and chaos.” Rabbi Natan Ben Nun, head of Ichud Breslov in Uman, said the decision unfairly tramples on the religious obligations of those who travel to the kever of Rav Nachman of Breslov for Rosh Hashanah. “We hope a solution is found quickly so that talmidei hayeshivos can travel without fear,” he said.
The plan, championed by Shas leader Aryeh Deri, had been linked to a funding package of 10 million shekels from several ministries to bolster infrastructure and security in Moldova, the transit point for most travelers to Uman. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu personally raised the matter with the Moldovan prime minister, officials said.
But opposition figures pounced. Yair Lapid urged Baharav-Miara to block the plan, calling it “illegal,” and warned he would petition the High Court if the government attempted to move forward. Secular advocacy groups also demanded its cancellation.
On the chareidi side, fears of mass arrests have fueled talk of protests. Former Elad mayor Yisrael Porush, head of the advocacy group Magen U’Moshia, warned that if talmidei hayeshivos are barred from flying, “no one will fly.” He said as many as 20,000 could gather at Ben Gurion Airport if the government does not find a solution. Transportation officials condemned the comments as “dangerous rhetoric.”
Even within the coalition, not all ministers support the plan. Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer of the Religious Zionist Party said he was troubled that the government was prioritizing funding for travel to Uman “in complete detachment from the difficult situation the nation is facing.”
For now, with Rosh Hashanah just weeks away, the fate of thousands of Breslov chassidim hoping to spend Yom Tov in Uman remains in limbo — caught between legal rulings, political fights, and their yearning to be mispallel at the tziyun of Rav Nachman.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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