New Data Reveals Broad Spectrum of Israelis Visiting Uman

A new survey by the Israel Democracy Institute indicates that 8% of adult Jewish Israelis have visited Uman, Ukraine, at least once. Contrary to common assumptions, the majority of these visitors, 59%, travel to the burial site of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov outside of the Rosh Hashanah holiday period. Only 26% visit specifically for Rosh Hashanah, while 15% visit both during the holiday and at other times.

The profile of Israeli visitors to Uman is diverse, with "traditional" Israelis making up the largest group at 42%. This category includes 28% who identify as religious-traditional and 16% as non-religious traditional. Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) Jews constitute 26% of visitors, secular Israelis 21%, and national-religious Jews 11%.

However, when examining the proportion of visitors within each demographic, the pilgrimage is most common among the Haredi population, with 19% of Haredi Israelis having visited Uman. This is followed by religious-traditional Jews at 16%, national-religious Jews at 7%, non-religious traditional Jews at 7%, and secular Jews at 4%.

The survey also highlighted differences based on origin, with 13% of Israelis of Mizrahi (Eastern) descent having visited Uman, compared to 5% of Ashkenazi (European) descent and 4% of mixed descent. This finding aligns with previous research on the connection between the Mizrahi community and Rabbi Nachman. Gender also showed a disparity, with 9% of men visiting compared to 7% of women. Notably, 55% of male visitors went for Rosh Hashanah, while only 23% of female visitors did so, with the remaining 77% visiting at other times.

Age and income also correlated with visitation rates. Younger Israelis aged 18-44 were more likely to visit (10%) than those 45 and older (6%). Visitors from lower-income households (below the median) were also more frequent travelers to Uman (12%) compared to those with median (9%) or higher incomes (6%).