Flipping the Uman pilgrimage script

The battle-hardened IDF soldiers in this new Ayin Tova cartoon, along with devout Hasidim, have swapped realities for the New Jewish Year. The pious in full rabbinic garb are here engaged in a demanding war around Gaza City. Perhaps they are motivated to fulfill the biblical commandment of freeing hostages, or to fulfill the biblical command of actively protecting the nation of Israel from vicious enemies. God should protect them as emissaries of the Jewish people while putting their lives on the line.

In contrast, the soldiers here have left Israel, left their communities, and left their spouses and children, to inaugurate the New Year at a cemetery in war-torn Ukraine. They have come to pray and become spiritually uplifted at the Uman burial site of the Hasidic master Reb Nachman of Breslov who passed away in 1810.

Seeing such a flipped reality can illustrate both absurdity as well as renewed perspective and appreciation of the Other. I wonder how these different roles could really make an impact, both from the outside as well as from within. What changes would that elicit? They would at least realize, like Hillel instructs (Avot 2:4), “to judge another only once you reach their place.”

Over 50,000 devotees are planning to travel to Uman this new Rosh Hashana 5786 (2025/2026). What kind of impact would there be if they were instead diverted to Gaza to help out with the war, providing some relief to our current warriors? Something to contemplate — and hope for!