UMAN, Ukraine (JTA) — Yaakov Bermann made his way from Jerusalem to this Ukrainian city in time for Rosh Hashanah this year, when the population swells with pilgrims seeking to pray at the grave of the Hasidic rabbi Nachman of Bratslav.

But one of his close friends, he said, wasn’t so fortunate. The friend was arrested at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, one of more than 100 Haredi Orthodox men who have been ensnared in a dragnet against draft dodgers while trying to leave Israel.

“ That’s a big mistake they’re making,” Bermann said, referring to the Israeli government’s crackdown. “I feel like if they approached it in a more civil manner instead of force, it would definitely make more change.”

The airport arrests point to how this year’s Uman pilgrimage has emerged as a flashpoint in one of Israel’s most volatile political issues: whether Haredi yeshiva students must serve in the Israeli army two years into the country’s longest war. The political jousting over the pilgrimage has added to ongoing challenges related to mass travel into Ukraine while the country is at war with Russia that have colored the pilgrimage in recent years.

Each year, tens of thousands of Jewish pilgrims descend on Uman to visit the tomb of Rabbi Nachman, the founder of the Hasidic Breslov sect. What began as a pilgrimage just for Breslov Hasidim has morphed into a journey for Jews from many different walks of life. This year, more than 40,000 Jews were expected to flood into Uman, temporarily increasing its population by nearly half.

An entire ecosystem springs up to serve the pilgrims — temporary housing, pop-up restaurants and, increasingly, security services that are not required at the site the rest of the year. Ukrainian soldiers accustomed to battling at the front against Russia have been deployed to the sleepy city in relatively calm central Ukraine.

“The pilgrimage is a cleansing experience. If I don’t do it, I feel off for the rest of the year,” said Gavriel, who spoke on his way to visit the tomb of Rabbi Nachman and, like many of the travelers, declined to share his last name. He pointed around and said, “This is why Uman is so........

© The Times of Israel