Katmandu Chabad director says eviction taught humility and a fresh start

Hani Lifshitz, who runs Chabad House in Kathmandu with her husband, Rabbi Chizki Lifshitz, says the recent forced move from the landmark building they used for 20 years upended their lives and left them starting over. In an interview with Channel 7, she described the old site as a “sanity island” in the chaos of Kathmandu and said the family had to leave it “a few months ago.”

Lifshitz said the relocation triggered hard questions about identity and dependence. “We asked ourselves who we are without our place, without the property we operated from,” she said. “Suddenly you feel for a moment terribly pathetic, truly needy.” The couple and their children were surrounded by piles of equipment, loaded trucks, and a sense of instability as they tried to keep the center running.

To meet the crisis, the Chabad emissaries launched a crowdfunding campaign to save the project. At the same time, they were living in temporary, cramped conditions, including a small room in a guesthouse, while travelers kept arriving in search of kosher food and a warm word. Lifshitz said, “We started again from zero.”

She said the experience returned them to the early years of their mission and reminded them that their work depends on heart, not on a grand building. After finding a new location that is half the size of the previous one, with a yard and trees, she said the reduced space may actually suit them better. “Our power is in what is inside,” she said, adding that her greatest prayer is to keep the original excitement of the mission and avoid routine, materialism, and the pursuit of honor. She also said Chabad offers a nonjudgmental, inclusive path for young Israelis in Nepal to find spirituality within their own people.