A small Ukrainian town, where strange events occur, is Uman, Ukraine. Every September, to celebrate the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), Hasidic pilgrims from around the world gather there to observe the holiday and seek atonement for their sins at the grave of Rabbi Nachman, the founder of Breslov Hasidism.

In the 19th century, he spent several days in Uman. After visiting the cemetery where the victims of the Jewish pogroms of 1768 were buried, he set himself the goal of purifying the souls of the deceased through his own death. He chose this cemetery as his burial site, which was fulfilled.

Thus began the history of the pilgrimage. The tragic history of Uman continued during World War II when the fascists killed more than 20,000 Jews, or about half of the town's population.

This year, about 20,000 people from different countries visited the site. The town lives for this event and prepares for it. For 7–10 days, the streets are filled with crowds of bearded men in black and white clothing, holding prayer books.

Local residents move all the furniture out of their apartments, constructing double, triple, and sometimes even five-tiered beds to provide the maximum number of sleeping places.

The huge synagogue, with 6,000 seats, cannot accommodate everyone. Trucks deliver food, while the Hasidic visitors bring their laboratories to test food and even water, along with their waiters, cooks, and doctors. The town witnesses several beautiful prayer rituals, including washing, mass prayer reading, dancing, and singing.

This creates a vivid impression: huge organized crowds of elegantly dressed people pray, hug, and kiss almost simultaneously, astonishing the locals with their reverent attitude towards their sanctities.

The relationship between the Hasidim and the locals is another theme in this colorful story. Here, one can see all aspects of human and Ukrainian nature, layer by layer. There's everything: children's curiosity towards the foreign, conspicuously demonstrated faith, and a passionate desire to earn as much as possible this week by catering to all the real and imagined needs and whims of the Hasidim, as well as domestic antisemitism from the inconvenience caused by the guests.

But with each passing year, the residents of Uman have less and less time to think about this. Taxi drivers, vendors (almost everyone trades), realtors, and prostitutes will discuss all this later; for now, they are all very, very busy.