A major lodging crisis is unfolding in Uman just hours before Rosh Hashanah, with askonim telling YWN that thousands of people who have arrived — or are still making their way to the city — have no confirmed place to sleep.

Organizers on the ground tell YWN they have never witnessed a shortage of accommodations on this scale. An apparently unprecedented influx of visitors has overwhelmed Uman’s already strained supply of hotel rooms, apartments and communal sleeping facilities.

Askonim say the situation has become increasingly urgent as buses continue pouring into the city and additional thousands make their way across Ukraine’s borders following lengthy journeys through Moldova, Poland and other neighboring countries.

Some arrivals reportedly believed they would be able to secure accommodations after reaching Uman, only to discover that virtually everything in the main areas surrounding the Tzion of Reb Nachman of Breslov is already occupied.

Askonim and organizers are now desperately working to locate additional apartments, rooms, mattresses and other emergency accommodations before Yom Tov.

Approximately 40,000 visitors are expected in Uman for this year’s Rosh Hashanah gathering, despite the ongoing war in Ukraine and the extraordinary travel difficulties involved in reaching the city.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)