Swine flu has struck the small Israeli Jewish community of Uman, in Ukraine, and taken the life of 34-year-old Rabbi Yisrael Pinto, z’l, according to a report posted on the Hebrew-language Actualic news website.
Rabbi Pinto served as a spiritual leader in Uman’s Breslov community, and was the owner and manager of the Orot Hotel. The rabbi was transferred to Odessa for medical care when his condition began to deteriorate, and when it was obvious that he required better care he was transferred to Israel’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem – but he did not survive.
