New Year's Day

Every September, thousands of Hasidim come to Uman to celebrate Rosh Hashanah here—at the grave of their spiritual leader.

The largest number of pilgrims visit Uman on the Jewish New Year to honor the righteous Rabbi Nachman (1772–1810). The Breslov Hasidim believe that everyone should visit Rabbi Nachman’s grave at least once in their lifetime, specifically on Rosh Hashanah. There is a belief that the entire coming year will be a happy one if one welcomes it at the tzaddik’s grave. It is believed that when Tzaddik Nachman was dying, he instructed his disciples to make sure to visit his grave specifically on Rosh Hashanah and to pray there.

Visiting one’s spiritual leaders and teachers is one of the principles of Hasidism—they visit their rabbis once or several times a year to converse with them. Since ancient times, it has been the custom that even after a rebbe’s death, his disciples continued to visit his grave. Thus, visiting the graves of one’s teachers is a common Hasidic practice, while Tzadik Nachman attached special significance to it.