Rosh Hashana Kibbutz - Pilgrimage Established By Reb Noson

Pilgrimage Established By Reb Noson

Reb Noson arranged the first Rosh Hashana kibbutz the following year (1811) and continued to run it until his death in 1844. In the following decades, hundreds of Hasidim arrived annually from Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania and Poland. So many joined the pilgrimage, in fact, that the local synagogue was unable to accommodate them. Fearing that people would stop attending the kibbutz, Reb Noson acquired a property, applied for a government permit, raised funds and oversaw the construction of a large Breslover synagogue in Uman in 1834. Known as the kloyz, it housed the annual Rosh Hashana kibbutz through the 1930s.

Reb Noson once said, "Even if the road to Uman were paved with knives, I would crawl there — just so I could be with my Rebbe on Rosh Hashanah!"

In each generation, the most pious representatives of the movement were honored with leading the prayer services at the annual Rosh Hashana kibbutz. They included: Nachman Chazan, Abraham Sternhartz, Levi Yitzchok Bender, Michel Dorfman, and Itzel Korsinski.

The annual Rosh Hashana pilgrimage effectively redirected the focus of Breslover Hasidut from the town of Breslov to the town of Uman. Today, the town of Breslov is considered a side-trip for visitors to Ukraine, as the only sites of interest to Breslover Hasidim there are the graves of Reb Noson and other Breslover figures.