Not just on Rosh Hashanah: Who travels to Zion Rabbi Nachman in Uman? • New data revealed

Shtetl
September 9, 2026   
Illustration
Photo: 
Chaim Goldberg/Flash90

Towards New Year's Eve: 8% of the Jews in Israel aged 18 and over have visited the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman at least once in their lives.

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This is according to a new survey by the Israel Democracy Institute that outlines the profile of Israeli visitors to Zion.

Of the Israelis who have already visited Uman - 28.5% did so once and 49% come every few years. 22.5% of the visitors come to Uman at least once a year.

Date of travel: 59% of the visitors arrived in Uman at a time other than Rosh Hashanah. 26% visited the place only on Rosh Hashanah and 15% arrived on both Rosh Hashanah and other dates.

The breakdown by religious definition: 42% of all visitors to Uman are traditional - 26% traditional-religious and 16% traditional non-religious - while the Haredim make up 26% of the visitors, the secular 21% and the religious-national 11%.

However, examining the rate of visitors within each sector shows that the trip is more common among the ultra-Orthodox: 191% of the ultra-Orthodox in Israel have visited Uman at least once. Among the traditional-religious, the figure is 161%, compared to 71% of the national-religious and traditional non-religious, and 41% of the secular.

In the breakdown by origin: 13% of Mizrahi Jews visited Uman, compared to 5% of Ashkenazi Jews and 4% of Israelis of mixed origin.

According to the review, the figure is consistent with the high proportion of traditionalists among visitors and with previous studies that dealt with the connection between the Mizrahi community and Rabbi Nachman, Breslov Hasidism, and the tradition of making pilgrimages to the graves of the righteous.

And who visited more - men or women? 91% of the men visited Uman compared to 71% of the women. While 55% of the men who visited did so on Rosh Hashanah, among women the figure is only 23%, and 77% of the women who visited Uman came at other times of the year.