Why Has the Path to Uman Closed for Jews? Rebbe Nachman Asks Us to Open Our Eyes

Our Rebbe awaits those who opened the road to Uman

Every year, there are debates regarding the number of people arriving at the gravesite of Rebbe Nachman in Uman, Ukraine. There are opinions that lean one way and others that lean a bit more leniently, but the consensus is that tens of thousands make the arduous journey to the holy gravesite every year; on this, no one disagrees. Throughout the years, even before the Iron Curtain fell, hundreds of thousands and even more had already visited the holy gravesite of Rebbe Nachman. To understand the magnitude of the self-sacrifice surrounding this matter, we will try to compare it to what happens regarding the journey to the gravesite of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai in Meron.

Hundreds of thousands arrive at Rabbi Shimon every year for the holy Hilula on Lag BaOmer. People arrive from all strata of society, and the holy gravesite has always been visited by those who are not part of the Haredi mainstream. But one must not forget that with all the difficulties of reaching Rabbi Shimon in Meron and all the pressures of the bottlenecks and transportation, Meron is still located in Israel. In contrast, to reach the gravesite of Rebbe Nachman, one truly needs self-sacrifice, which requires traveling to Ukraine, a country in Eastern Europe, for a few days while dealing with all the logistics involved, which entails great effort.

As mentioned, with all the difficulties dependent on the matter, since the road to Uman was opened, hundreds of thousands have already arrived there. But unfortunately, and as we shall see, to the sorrow of the entire nation of Israel, the one who opened the road to Uman and sacrificed his life to instill this very important mitzvah is the very one who is now prevented from reaching it.

The tears and prayers collapsed the walls - only one broke through the path

Many of the great Breslov Chassidim labored in prayer to open the road to Uman. For the younger ones among us, we will remind you that this was during the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union, which began after the Second World War and the Holocaust of our people. The gates to the entire eastern part of Europe were closed to the residents of the West, and most importantly for us - no one succeeded in reaching the holy gravesite of our Rebbe Nachman in Uman.

This is not the place to mention the history of the formation of Breslov Chassidut in the Land of Israel, but broadly speaking, it concerns broken shards, brands plucked from the fire, who arrived in Israel after the Holocaust. Many of the Breslov Chassidim, mostly those in Poland, went to sanctify Hashem's name in Auschwitz and other extermination camps. Many of those who were in Ukraine were exiled to Siberia after they did not heed the call of Rabbi Avraham ben Rebbe Nachman to travel to Israel, and their place of death is unknown. May Hashem avenge their blood. A few from the generation of knowledge, the generation of holy giants, servants of Hashem who were in Uman, managed to survive the inferno and ascend to Israel, the Holy Land, but their situation here was not bright.

Breslov Chassidut in the Land of Israel looked then like something with no future, a distant dream of Chassidim without an Admor who could barely manage to gather a minyan for prayer. But, some of the greats of the previous generation who grew up in the shadow of the successors of the chain of holy knowledge managed, with their great strength, to pass the embers on to the next generation.

On one of the holy days of Purim, a young avrech, yet full of holiness and Torah, by the name of Leizer, arrived "by mistake" at the Breslov Yeshiva in Bnei Brak and turned the world upside down. Eliezer, who soon became known as Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a, served all the greats of the generation in the Breslov Chassidut of that time, and soon began to draw multitudes to the holy path of Rebbe Nachman. He brought many back to teshuvah (repentance); Breslov Chassidut grew and developed. Those who just a short time before were unlearned, with no connection to Torah and the fulfillment of mitzvot, became Torah scholars who themselves began to draw the distant closer. But, one thing was still missing - the road to the holy gravesite in Uman was blocked by an Iron Curtain.

Every person with a heart will admit that Rav Berland opened the road to Uman

Breslov Chassidim, ever since the road to Uman was blocked, never stopped hoping, praying, and yearning to reach the holy gravesite. Prayer after prayer, tear after plea, they collapsed the obstructing screen. But, the road was still closed to all outsiders. Our teacher, the holy Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a, could not stand on the sidelines. As soon as he heard about the great virtue of the holy journey and the stay near the gravesite in Uman, he acted with all his strength to open the road. There are countless stories surrounding that magical period; on paths that were no paths, with effort and self-sacrifice beyond all understanding, Rav Berland managed to break through the road. The Rav traveled back and forth to Uman in Ukraine, dodging the claws of the KGB, and he always brought more and more people with him on the holy journey.

As Rabbi Shalom Arush shlit"a said:

"Anyone who has traveled or will ever travel to Uman, it will be in the merit of Rav Berland. I am a witness to this unequivocally; he opened the road to Uman in a clear way, truly with self-sacrifice. One day I will tell, these are things I truly saw with my own eyes, self-sacrifice. We are talking about a great tzaddik who took upon himself suffering for our sake, and there is also gratitude here that we reached Uman in his merit; he opened the road. And not only that, but he opened all the matters of our Rebbe with self-sacrifice."

There are those who try to rewrite history, but any person with a heart who admits even a little bit to the truth knows how great the part of Rav Berland is in opening the road to Uman and restoring the holy Kibbutz during the days of Rosh Hashanah. Nevertheless, some of those who consider themselves the "original Breslovers" were very bothered to see how Rav Berland shlit"a draws tens of thousands (without any exaggeration) to the path of Judaism in general and to Breslov Chassidut in particular. Those people did not leave Rav Berland alone all those decades, and in recent years, the persecution has only intensified.

The whole world entered into lockdown along with the arrest of Rav Berland

The cup was filled to the brim recently after a limited number of "great tzaddikim" went to the authorities and provided false information about Rav Berland and even brought about his arrest. Rav Berland was indeed put behind bars, but unfortunately, the whole world entered into great turmoil. The coronavirus began to spread in the country and claim many victims; the entire nation of Israel was placed in isolation, and the sorrow continued to grow. Many rabbis cried out and declared that everything is happening because a holy tzaddik is sitting in suffering for no fault of his own and is being persecuted in a shocking manner, but unfortunately, for those who need to understand the thick hints - their hearts are sealed.

The days of the Rosh Hashanah Kibbutz arrived. Every year, towards the end of the month of Elul, tens of thousands gather and fulfill the great testament of Rebbe Nachman - "Let no man be missing." And what about this year? Although tens of thousands gather in Balfour for demonstrations, and other ridiculous gatherings are approved by the government in various restaurants and cafes - for some reason, the road to Uman is blocked. The matters reached the highest political level; thousands are trying to act through prayer, while activists work at the forefront or behind the scenes to open the gates to Uman - but in the meantime, the gate is only becoming more closed.

Rabbi Aharon Stern from Bnei Brak said regarding the closing of synagogues and study halls during the coronavirus that we do not know the accounts of Hashem. One thing is certain, added Rabbi Stern, that the judgment was sealed over the suffering and imprisonment of the holy and brilliant tzaddik, Rav Berland.

In truth, it is hard to see how they keep hitting their heads against the wall, trying to talk to everyone and exert all efforts to open the road to Uman, only that they continue to ignore the real reason - teshuvah for the humiliation and lashon hara (evil speech) against Rav Berland shlit"a, and decisive action that will lead to his quick release.

Words of Rabbi Abba Tzadki - and perhaps we, the entire public, are to blame for allowing and continuing to allow a group of ruthless criminals to keep an important Jew and leader of a large community behind bars for over 150 days while he suffers!

And perhaps from Heaven, they are hinting that Rebbe Nachman is telling us: The man who fought for my gravesite and came to me with self-sacrifice - you allowed him to be abused without mercy and put behind bars - so you too, in the hard way, will understand why this has come upon you.