Seder on "Top of the World"

Backpackers in Nepal

When Israel's young people are released form their IDF service a great many of hit the road for Asia.(Rosenthal. 236) These young Israelis are not just searching for fun and excitement, many of them are looking for meaning in their lives, many of them are looking to discover their own spiritual path.
In Nepal, you would expect to find the "top of the world", better known as the worlds tallest mountain, Everest. You may also expect to find many traveling Israeli youth, seeking adventure while searching for their own spiritual awakening. In Nepal, which was until only four years ago a Hindu kingdom and is the birthplace of The Buddha, you would expect to find many Hindus and Buddhists, what you might not expect, however, would be to find the world's largest Passover Seder celebration. Well, whether or not you expect it, that's exactly where it is.

Hebrew in Kathmandu

Each year since 1986, Kathmandu has hosted Passover services for hundreds upon hundreds of traveling Israelis.
The feast was first hosted by the Israeli embassy in Kathmandu, it was provided as a place for Jews to celebrate in a relatively Jew-less country. In 1999, Lubavitch's Chabad origination took over the celebration. Since then, Chabad rabbis have trekked hundreds of pounds of matzah, kosher fish, meat, wine and Haggadahs up to the city for each year for the celebration.

Imported Passover supplies

The spiritual religious experience, provided by the Passover celebration at the Chabad House comes as a new and exciting experience for many Jewish youth. In an article by the Times of India, one young Israeli speaks out about his exciting passover experience. "I come from a religious family," says Srul Rota, who too has finished four years in the army and lives in Jerusalem with his parents. "Back home, Passover Seder was a family matter. This time in Kathmandu, it is a big thing and I am meeting Jews from so many places. It is wonderful."
The official Chabad website has a statement from another young Israeli, Irit Goren, a 23 year old girl from Tel Aviv. Irit had come to the Nepal to study Eastern religions, but to her surprise she had found connections to Judaism as well. She told Chabad, "Pesach in Katmandu Lubavitch-style was a real eye-opener for me. This [was] the first time Judaism had any meaning for me... I never knew that Judaism was really so meaningful and spiritual."
This type of Jewish spiritual experience is exactly what Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky of the Lubavitch World Headquarters is hoping his Passover dinners will inspire. His following statement is quoted form the official Chabad website; "We hope that this positive Jewish experience and observance will help them find their true spiritual heritage in their own vineyard of Judaism."

Chabad Passover, Kathmandu, 2009

My web sources for this information came from a Times of India article as well as off of the official Chabad website. Since both sights gave simple factual accounts of the Chabad Passover in Kathmandu and were not written with a apparently bias opinion I have chosen to review their credibility as news sources.
The Times of India, according to Wikipedia, “has the largest circulation among all English-language newspapers in the world, across all formats (broadsheet, tabloid, compact, Berliner and online)” and is “owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. which is owned by the Sahu Jain family.” Wikipedia also says that “India's highest literary honor, Jnanpith Awards, are given by the Bharatiya Jnanpith organization founded by the family. The group has also founded a few other awards that are coveted honors in the fields of fashion, movies and business in India - namely the Miss India title, Filmfare Awards (movies) and the Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence.”
All of the attributes mentioned above led me to believe that the Times of India is a very credible news source. For a company to be so large and so successful, its business practices must be in the right shape, and thus I doubt that they would let something like false reporting, especially on a subject that is seemingly minor, to interfere with there sterling reputation.
The Chabad organization was founded in the late 18th century. Wikipedia reports that the organization “maintains institutions in around 950 cities around the world, and in the early 21st century there were an estimated 3,300 Chabad institutions around the world in 75 countries,providing outreach and educational activities for Jews through Jewish community centers, synagogues, schools and camps. 1,350 institutions were listed in the Chabad directory as of 2007.”
While looking for this information I found no real controversies concerning the organization, other than the usual disagreements from other rabbis with opposing viewpoints. So, when all is said and done, I believe Chabad to be a great an Godly organization, that is doing a lot of good for many Jewish people all over the world. And thus, I take the information on the Passover in Kathmandu and the posted comments of youth and the organizations rabbis as factual statements.