Today Hasidim in Uman Celebrate the New Year

Today in Uman, Cherkasy Oblast, Hasidim from all over the world celebrate Rosh Hashanah – the 5774th New Year.

As UNN reports, this morning started the rite of worship – Hasidim will pray starting in the morning until the first star appears in the sky. After the prayer, they will begin to celebrate the New Year with a celebratory dinner. On this day, they only eat kosher food, and the menu includes sweets and apples with honey so that the year will be sweet.

“On New Year's Eve we must eat symbolic food which means good. Apples with honey means that the whole year will be sweet. We should also eat fish heads so that we were are like head and not the tail,” says Yakov, a pilgrim.

When the prayer and supper are finished, the Hasidim will go bathing in a nearby pond. The pilgrims will dive into the water naked, and after that they will spend all night singing and dancing.

The pilgrims will celebrate the New Year for two days, and then comes the Sabbath, and after this the pilgrims will go home.