In the Ukrainian city of Uman, businesses and mobsters follow the Jewish pilgrims
By Cnaan Liphshiz September 14, 2017 3:35pm
UMAN, Ukraine (JTA) — By selling coffee to Jewish tourists, 18-year-old Yuri Breskov can earn in a week more than his teachers from high school make annually in this provincial city.
His revenues peak at $3,000 on the week of Rosh Hashanah, when some 30,000 Israelis and other Jews visit the gravesite of Rabbi Nachman. an 18th-century luminary and founder of the Breslov Hasidic movement.
The annual pilgrimage has been taking place for decades. But what began as a trickle of observant Jews has grown in recent years and diversified to include many secular pilgrims. It’s a change that is creating new and lucrative opportunities for dozens of entrepreneurs like Breskov. But locals say it has also increased the presence of organized criminals feeding off their success.
Continued at: http://www.jta.org/2017/09/14/news-opinion/world/in-the-ukrainian-city-of-uman-businesses-and-mobsters-follow-the-jewish-pilgrims
Israeli Police even go there to assure order during the pilgrimage:
Israeli police officers working on ensuring order during Hasid pilgrimage leave Uman
The Israeli police officers noted the high level of skill of their Ukrainian counterparts as to work on public events
17:31, 25 September 2017
sraeli police officers that helped their Ukrainian counterparts ensure public order during the Hasid pilgrimage, according the Communication Department of the Cherkasy Police.
“Head of the integrated unit, Colonel Viktor Ivanko phrased his gratitude to representatives of Israeli police for close and fruitful cooperation of the police officers of both countries on ensuring public order during the Rosh Hashana celebration. In their turn, the Israeli police officers also thanked the Ukrainian counterparts for cooperation and the high level of skill of Ukrainian law enforcement officers as to working during public events,” the statement informs.
Continued at: http://112.international/society/israeli-police-officers-working-on-ensuring-order-during-hasid-pilgrimage-leave-uman-21040.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UmanOn Uman, Ukraine:
Every Rosh Hashana, there is a major pilgrimage by tens of thousands of Hasidim and others from around the world to the burial site of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, located on the former site of the Jewish cemetery in a rebuilt synagogue.[6] Rebbe Nachman spent the last five months of his life in Uman,[7] and specifically requested to be buried here. As believed by the Breslov Hassidim, before his death he solemnly promised to intercede on behalf of anyone who would come to pray on his grave on Rosh Hashana, "be he the worst of sinners"; thus, a pilgrimage to this grave provides the best chance of getting unscathed through the stern judgement which, according to Jewish faith, God passes on everybody on Yom Kippur.[8]
It's a big pilgrimage site now, not what one would normally expect out of Ukraine, there have been a lot of articles on this. It's also good, Israel can send some of their own police there, just in case.
And organized crime exists everywhere per the first article but it does appear to be more so in some of those countries like Ukraine, Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, etc.
