Tashlikh

15 thousand of Hasid palmers that arrived to celebrate the Jewish New Year - Rosh Hashanah stand at granitic rocks round a lake performing a religious ceremony Tashlikh on the second day of the Jewish New Year celebration, Uman, Cherkassy area, 200 km to the south of Kiev, Thursday, September 16, 2004. Tashlikh involves going to a body of water - preferably a river or a lake where fish is found, and reciting verses from the end of Micha which refer to God, tolerant and indulgent. Such standing by a lake or river must put a thought into a prayer’s mind that a human can fall into a trap of evil deeds like a fish. More than 15 thousand of Bratslav Hasidism followers from 26 countries of the world arrived in Uman to honour the memory of Rabbi Nahman that died in 1810 and celebrate the New Year – 5765 by Jewish calendar. Tsadik Nahman (a great-grandson of Hasidism founder Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov) has lived 38 years, was an expert on Kabbalah and Tora and from the early youth was known as a very righteous and wise man. He willed to be buried in Uman. Hasids believe that at Tsadik’s grave the God will hear their prayers better. Photo by Viktor Pobedinsky / UNIAN