KIEV: An Israeli man was stabbed to death during a pilgrimage to a Ukrainian town, local police said Sunday.
Police spokeswoman Natalya Taran told The Associated Press that a Hasidic Jewish pilgrim was killed in Uman, home to the grave of an important Hasidic rabbi who died 200 years ago, in a fight with local residents. She was unable to provide more information.
In Israel, Rabbi Moshe Reuven Asman told Israel’s Army Radio that drunken Ukrainian men stabbed the 19-year-old in the scuffle and wounded the man’s brother.
No further details were immediately available. The fact that the slain man was ultra-Orthodox means that his appearance would have easily identified him as Jewish.
Some 30,000 Hasidic men converged on Uman city last week to mark Rosh Hoshana at the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav.
Ukrainian officials last week arrested three Hasidic Jews and deported 10 for allegedly violating public order during the pilgrimage. Police said two Uman residents were beaten after they rebuked the pilgrims for making too much noise.
