Passover supplies made it to Katmandu, Nepal, on Monday in time for an annual Seder that typically draws more than 1,000 guests. The shipment had been stuck in port in India, bound for the Seder hosted by the Jewish outreach organization Chabad-Lubavitch.
Chabad organizes the Passover feast in Kathmandu every year, attracting hundreds of people, including tourists from around the world.
Katmandu Chabad Seder (Photo: AFP)
The supplies are normally routed via the Israeli embassy of Nepal, but a strike by the Israeli Foreign Ministry that affected embassy operations had delayed delivery, according to Rabbi Zalman Shmotkin, a New York spokesman for Chabad.
Photo: AFP
"We have a problem, we have not been able to get any food shipments through so far for this Passover," Rabbi Chezki Lifshitz, co-director of Chabad House Nepal, told AFP a few days ago.
Photo: AFP
The strike ended April 3 and the container filled with matzo, wine, ritual texts called Haggadahs and other items was finally signed for, but organizers were not sure it would get to Katmandu in time.
Photo: AFP
Travelers had started bringing Passover items in their backpacks and suitcases and plans were being readied to make some things from scratch if need be. But the shipment arrived Monday in time for the event's evening start, Shmotkin said.
Photo: AFP
Around 25 years ago the embassy began to invite Israeli tourists in Kathmandu to share in a meal, kicking off an event that organizers claim is the world's largest seder.
The Nepal Seder is one of hundreds hosted around the globe by Chabad-Lubavitch.
The Associated Press and AFP contributed to this report