However, before each Rosh Hashanah, they would go to public pay phones to call Dorfman in Moscow, who updated them on details of the upcoming holiday pilgrimage to Uman.

Dorfman served as one of the prayer leaders at the secret Rosh Hashanah services, which were held every year in a house near Rebbe Nachman's gravesite.

During World War II, a fierce battle between the Russians and Nazis for control of Uman had demolished the ancient cemetery in which Rebbe Nachman was buried.

The increasing number of visitors and requests for visas to Uman in the 1960s, '70s, and '80s put pressure on the Soviet government to ease its restrictions.

After 38 consecutive years of petitioning the government through official and private channels, Dorfman and his wife finally received their exit visas in 1972 and immigrated to Israel.