Judaism in Nepal

Nepal has no native Jewish population and no organized permanent Jewish community in the conventional sense.[3][2] The country's Jewish life is defined instead by the Chabad infrastructure built to serve the large flow of Israeli and Jewish travelers who pass through, particularly after completing Israeli military service.[4][2] The World Jewish Congress lists Nepal as a WJC affiliate and identifies a Chabad House in the Thamel neighborhood of Kathmandu, though it does not provide a Jewish population estimate or describe the size of any resident community.[5]

Nepal's permanent Jewish community has been characterized as very small, with Chabad emissaries and Jewish diplomatic officials living and working in the country.[1] An Encyclopedia.com country profile takes a stricter view, stating that no organized Jewish community existed in Kathmandu and that no regular Jewish services were conducted there, though the Israeli Embassy held occasional holiday services.[3] These characterizations may reflect different time periods or differing definitions of what constitutes an organized community.

The first public Passover Seder in Kathmandu was held in 1989, hosted by Israel's ambassador, Shmuel Moyal, with assistance from two Chabad yeshiva students who had flown in from Australia.[6] Moyal posted a notice at a popular restaurant announcing that the embassy would host a Seder open to Israelis; although he anticipated 30 to 40 attendees, nearly 90 had registered three weeks before Passover.[6] He sent a telegram to the Lubavitcher Rebbe requesting help; the source says Chabad later took over organizing the event, with continuing involvement from the Israeli Embassy.[6]

A Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion thesis recounts that two Lubavitch rabbis traveled to Kathmandu at the Lubavitcher Rebbe's direction to organize the first Seder for young Israelis traveling through the Himalayas after army service.[7] With help from a local restaurant, the inaugural meal drew approximately 350 people, and the Seder became an annual event.[7] A separate account places the beginning of the gathering known as the "Seder on Top of the World" in the mid-1990s.[1]

Rabbi Chezki and Chani Lifshitz opened the Chabad House in Kathmandu's Thamel district in 2000, establishing the center that would become the permanent hub for Jewish life in Nepal.[2] In 2007, Rabbi Yechezkel Lifshitz announced the opening of a second Chabad House in Pokhara, providing Jewish life and traditions for travelers in that part of the country.[1]

Nepal is a popular destination for young Israelis following military service, and its peak travel season coincides with Passover, making Kathmandu one of the most distinctive sites of Jewish holiday observance outside Israel.[4] The Seder draws participants from Israel, the United States, Australia, and European countries, many of whom are not Orthodox and seek a traditional Passover experience while abroad.[1]

Preparations for the main event begin roughly four months in advance.[8] Visiting rabbis bring hundreds of pounds of kosher matzah, other food, and Haggadahs to Kathmandu.[1] A 2016 report put the supplies for the main event at approximately 800 pounds of matzah and 2,000 bottles of kosher wine, with the cost of each Seder exceeding $60,000 and much of the funding provided by Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters.[8] The Seder is held in a large army tent in front of the Israeli Embassy.[1]

At its peak, the Kathmandu gathering drew approximately 2,000 participants, giving it a reputation as one of the world's largest Passover Seders.[6] In 2006, nearly 1,500 Israelis attended despite travel warnings related to political turbulence in the region.[1] A 2016 report described attendance of about 1,500 Israeli and Jewish backpackers annually, spread across three or sometimes four simultaneous Seders—two in Hebrew and the remainder in English.[8] For 2025, more than 2,500 backpackers had registered for the Kathmandu Seder, with an additional 300 expected in Pokhara and about 100 at a high-altitude Seder in Manang.[9]

The U.S. State Department's Nepal reports documented public Passover Seder observances at a major Kathmandu hotel in 2000 and 2001, describing them as uneventful and noting that no disruptions of Jewish services were reported during that period.[10]

Attendees reflect a wide range of backgrounds and motivations. Many are Israeli backpackers in their twenties recently discharged from the military, alongside hikers on honeymoons and travelers arriving from India and Thailand.[8] One participant, Keren Singer, described her attendance as a response to being far from home: "Being away from home for so long brought us closer to anything reminiscent of it."[8] The event has been described as bringing a Passover experience to Jews who might otherwise have missed one during their travels.[7]

Additional Seders organized by Chabad take place in Pokhara and in the mountain village of Manang, which sits at an elevation of approximately 3,500 meters.[9] Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters has described the Manang gathering as the world's highest Seder.[8]

The Chabad House established by Rabbi Chezki and Chani Lifshitz in Kathmandu's Thamel area functions as a synagogue, community center, and practical services hub for Jewish and Israeli travelers.[2] Its facilities included a small synagogue, a library, a kosher meat restaurant called Glattmandu, and a dairy restaurant called Milkasher, as well as regular social, cultural, and religious programming.[2] An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Israeli backpackers travel to Nepal each year according to one account, while a 2020 report put annual Israeli visits to Nepal at approximately 20,000.[2][11]

Beyond holiday observances, the center's religious calendar includes Yom Kippur services—among them Kol Nidre prayers—and Sukkot celebrations. Around 300 Jews from Israel and other countries would interrupt their treks each year to attend Yom Kippur services and classes.[2][11] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chani Lifshitz and the children were already in Israel when Nepal closed its borders in March 2020; Rabbi Chezki Lifshitz then left on one of the last departing flights, and the family continued teaching Judaism to former Nepal travelers over Zoom.[11][12] Chabad emissary Rabbi Mendi Leider and his wife Tammy remained in Nepal for a time to assist the small number of Israelis still there.[11]

Seder attendance dropped dramatically during the pandemic: whereas about 2,000 people had attended two years earlier, only eight Israelis attended the following Passover Seder after travel collapsed.[12] As travelers began to return in 2021, Rabbi Lifshitz reported that a public Seder for approximately 40 Israelis was planned for that spring.[12]

Practical traveler support is a central part of the center's mission. Rabbi Chezki Lifshitz provided Israeli travelers with daily safety briefings, and the center lent personal oxygen cylinders to hikers.[11] The Kathmandu operation also supplied trekkers with oxygen balloons and satellite devices for routes without phone signals, and the rabbi arranged helicopter transport for Israelis stranded by poor weather in the Annapurna and Everest ranges.[2]

The Kathmandu Chabad House served as a crisis hub during two major emergencies. During the October 2014 Annapurna blizzard, which killed 43 trekkers including four Israelis, Rabbi Chezki and Chani Lifshitz helped injured travelers obtain medical care and assisted Nepali military personnel in locating the bodies of the four Israeli victims.[11]

The April 2015 earthquake tested the center's capacity far more severely. Israeli travelers began arriving within minutes of the disaster; injured people were laid on couches as the center provided food, accommodation, psychological support, medical attention, assistance locating missing travelers, and coordination for helicopter rescues.[13] Chani Lifshitz estimated that the center hosted approximately 800 people during the crisis, and she and her husband reportedly slept little for more than two weeks.[13] Rabbi Chezky Lifshitz also borrowed a helicopter to reach Dhunche, where about 25 Israeli hikers were stranded.[14]

Relief efforts extended beyond the Jewish traveler community. Rabbi Chezky Lifshitz and volunteers distributed food, hygiene supplies, and fresh water to Nepalese residents whose homes had been destroyed, providing approximately 2,000 meals per day according to Chabad.[14] The Lifshitzes and their volunteers also brought food and water directly to displaced Nepalese neighborhoods.[13]

The significance of Judaism in Nepal lies in a mobile, travel-centered model of Jewish life rather than in a settled congregation. Nepal illustrates Chabad's broader pattern of providing Orthodox services in places with few resident Jews, while the Kathmandu center combines worship, food, classes, traveler assistance, and large seasonal gatherings.[15][2]

The same infrastructure also functions in emergencies. Its role during the 2014 blizzard and 2015 earthquake extended from locating and sheltering Israelis to supporting Nepalese residents with food and water.[13][11] This combination of religious practice, practical aid, and crisis response has made the Kathmandu Chabad House significant beyond the annual Seder.

Several aspects of Judaism's presence in Nepal involve contested claims or unresolved questions. The characterization of the Kathmandu Seder as the world's largest is frequently repeated but not uniformly supported. A 2024 Jerusalem Post account noted that a Seder in Gondar, Ethiopia, was expected to draw 4,000 participants that year—above Kathmandu's reported peak of approximately 2,000.[6] Sociologist Samuel Heilman described the Kathmandu gathering as "probably" the biggest Passover Seder in the world in a 2005 interview, but supplied no attendance figure or comparative data to support that characterization.[15] Attendance figures also vary by year and source and should be understood as year-specific estimates rather than stable counts.

In April 2025, a Norwegian man was arrested after allegedly breaking into and vandalizing the Kathmandu Chabad House shortly after Passover. The incident caused substantial damage, though no one was hurt.[1][16] Rabbi Chezki Lifshitz described it as a suspected antisemitic hate crime; the investigation was ongoing at the time of reporting, and the suspect's motive had not been established.[16] Security at the center was increased after the incident.[16]

In January 2026, Chabad of Nepal vacated its longtime Kathmandu premises after approximately 17 years in the same building.[17] Rabbi Chezki Lifshitz stated that the landlord had demanded the removal of Hebrew signs out of concern about being associated with Israelis and had raised the rent substantially, but he also said the landlord was not personally antisemitic.[18] A Times of Israel report relayed other sources' claims that Chabad had not paid rent for several years and owed more than $100,000.[19] Chani Lifshitz attributed the situation to antisemitism in public statements, while her husband expressed uncertainty about whether the landlord's motivations rose to that level.[17][20] The Lifshitzes moved their activities to a hotel and stated their intention to remain in Kathmandu and continue their mission while seeking a new location.[21][20]