The permanent Jewish community in Nepal is very small and consists largely of diplomatic officials and Chabad staff.
Nepal established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1960. Among Jews, Nepal is known as the premier destination of Israeli backpackers. In 1986, the Israeli embassy in the Thamel section of Katmandu started the tradition of holding a Passover Seder for Israeli travelers. In 1999, the Chabad organization picked up this tradition and became the main organizer of this annual event. In 2006, the annual Chabad seder hosted 1,500 participants. The acting Chief Rabbi of Chabad in Nepal is Chezky Lifshitz. In November 2007, Rabbi Lifshitz announced the opening of a second permanent Chabad house in the city of Pokhara, to assist Jewish travelers in that area.
Famous quotes containing the words history of the, history of, history and/or jews:
“The view of Jerusalem is the history of the world; it is more, it is the history of earth and of heaven.”
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)
“If usually the “present age” is no very long time, still, at our pleasure, or in the service of some such unity of meaning as the history of civilization, or the study of geology, may suggest, we may conceive the present as extending over many centuries, or over a hundred thousand years.”
—Josiah Royce (1855–1916)
“All things are moral. That soul, which within us is a sentiment, outside of us is a law. We feel its inspiration; out there in history we can see its fatal strength.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“The Jews generally give value. They make you pay; but they deliver the goods. In my experience the men who want something for nothing are invariably Christians.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)