About a thousand Hasidic Jews from around the world made a pilgrimage to a small northern Hungarian village on Thursday, but their presence has made some locals nervous as Hungary fights a third, destructive wave of the pandemic.
The village of Bodrogkeresztur has recently become a pilgrimage site for Hasidic Jews to commemorate a rabbi who they believe performed miracles 100 years ago.
Attendances have grown to more than 20,000 in recent years and the organisers had expected 100,000 people this year until the coronavirus pandemic struck.
Rabbi Moshe Friedlander, who owns a house in the village and organises part of the pilgrimage, said the pilgrims were either vaccinated or had tested negative for COVID-19.
One young pilgrim from Israel said, “we come to pray. This is a big rabbi.”
Nevertheless locals said they were nervous.
“We had too many deaths as it is,” said Ildiko Cserhalmi, a local shopkeeper. “They (the pilgrims) come in droves ... We avoid them as best we can.”
For weeks Hungary has fought one of the world’s highest death rates for those infected with the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who faces elections this time next year, is trying to balance the need to tame the pandemic with vaccines and restrictions, and the need to reopen the country to stem recession.
Orban’s government has vilified immigrants and LGBTQ people, and even Hungary’s Roma community, although it has kept a zero tolerance policy on antisemitism. However, some Hungarians, especially in rural areas, remain hostile to Jews.
In Bodrogkeresztur, where the original Jewish population was wiped out during the Holocaust, Jews have bought dozens of houses, which they typically use only in April for the pilgrimage.
The April visitors boost employment in the poor area, and residents who provide services for the pilgrims said they welcome the opportunity to earn some money.
Local woman Piroska Szantai works as a cook during the pilgrimage. “If I had to live off my pension I would starve,” she said.