Outrageous Uman Prices

Q: If you believe travelling to Uman for Rosh Hashanah is so important, why don’t the Rabbi’s unite and put a ban on travelling with airlines that charge more than a FAIR fee. Everyone is sleeping if you ask me. How can a Kollel guy with a few children travel with such prices? Cost to rent beds, food, etc can run a few thousands dollars easily. Why not raise your voice if you are true to the “reaching out efforts” you suggest? Don’t give me, “The Rebbe pays back” line, as this is just condoning more steeling the travel companies are obviously doing. SPEAK UP!!!

A:

MM = Moshe Mykoff

DS = Dovid Sears

OB= Ozer Bergman

MM:

There are no airlines that charge a fair fee unless you are willing to travel out of the way like Poland, Moscow, Italy etc.  B) what Breslover rabbis would that be?

DS:

Who are we to create “bans”? And who would listen? Strikes me as highly impractical. Better to create less expensive charter flights, as some already have here in the states.

OB:

Mayanot HaChaim was started in order to create competition in order to drive prices down.

Suffice it to say, it didn’t work.

I think a lot of Breslovers couldn’t live with themselves if they knew they could go to Uman for R”H, but didn’t because of money. A number of rabbanim (Reb Yaakov Meir, Reb Noson Libermensh) have said for years to not go into debt for the trip. Many may take their kids because of shalom bayis concerns (Wife: you can go — if you take [all] thekids.)

I think that some of the Uman expense comes from the willingness of chutznikim to pay whatever is asked, and there are certain costs involving the locals there that cannot be avoided. Some of those costs are legitimate! 🙂

As MM says, no airline charges a lower fee nor will they. They’re in business to make money and will charge what the market will bear. If a realistic alternative means of travel were found — oversea/boat?

Overland/bus? — maybe prices would drop. And to tell all Breslovers to all stay home for one R”H, even if 90% would listen, who would take the responsibility to diminish the Rebbe’s R”H?