8% of Israeli Jews Have Visited Ukraine's Uman, New Study Finds

A new study by the Israel Democracy Institute reveals that 8% of Jewish adults in Israel have visited the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman, Ukraine, at least once in their lives. The research, conducted in July-August 2026 by Dr. Ariel Finkelshtein, Adv. Shlomit Revitzky Tor-Paz, and Yaari Padan, surveyed 1,002 representative respondents. Among those who have visited Uman, 28.5% went only once, 49% visit every few years, and 22.5% visit at least annually. A significant finding indicates that 59% of visitors traveled to Uman outside of the Rosh Hashanah holiday period, compared to 26% who visited only during the holiday, and 15% who visited both times. The demographic breakdown shows that 42% of visitors identify as traditional, 26% as Haredi (ultra-Orthodox), 21% as secular, and 11% as religious-Zionist. Regarding ethnic background, 13% of those of Mizrahi (Middle Eastern Jewish) descent have visited Uman, compared to 5% of Ashkenazi (European Jewish) descent and 4% of mixed descent. The study also found that 77% of women who visited Uman did so outside of Rosh Hashanah for religious-spiritual journeys, while 55% of men chose to visit specifically for the holiday. Higher visitation rates were also observed among younger adults aged 18-44 (10%) and individuals with incomes below the median (12%).