Ukraine's Chief Rabbi Yaakov Dov Bleich has called the placing of a crucifix near the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman a “clear provocation” and called for its immediate removal. “Ukraine is not a Jewish country, and Ukrainian Jews respect Christian symbols like crosses. But the cross raised in Uman, in the immediate vicinity of the tomb of Rabbi Nachman, is a clear provocation,” Bleich, who is also a vice-president of the World Jewish Congress, told a local Jewish news website.
The crucifix was erected in recent weeks on the banks of a lake near the grave of the 18th-century founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement.
Referring to an estimated 30,000 Jewish pilgrims expected to arrive in Uman for Rosh Hashanah, Bleich said: “They will not be able to pray there this year.” He told JTA the cross would prevent the pilgrims from performing tashlich, a prayer often accompanied with the ritual of symbolically casting off the sins of the previous year by tossing pieces of bread or another food into a body of flowing water.