Andorra, where non-Catholic houses of worship are illegal, gets its first full-time rabbi

(JTA) — The last few years have brought a string of Jewish milestones for Andorra, a tiny, landlocked microstate in the Pyrenees where non-Catholic houses of worship are prohibited by law.

Last year, a Jewish lawmaker joined the legislature for the first time. And this summer, the lawmaker’s brother told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the local Jewish community was negotiating with the government to secure land for a cemetery.

Now, Andorra has gotten its first-ever full-time rabbi — a Chabad emissary named Kuty Kalmenson.

The Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement announced Kalmenson’s appointment on Sunday at its annual conference for emissaries in Brooklyn, called the Kinus, which drew 6,500 rabbis who are stationed in more than 100 countries. It said in a news story that he and his family — his wife Rochel and their five children — had until recently been living in Ningbo, China, a city of more than 9 million south of Shanghai, but left because there were no longer Jews living or visiting there.

Their arrival last month increased the number of Jews living in Andorra by perhaps 10%. Locals this summer told JTA that the official Jewish community, which operates a cultural center in an underground office building to sidestep the prohibition on synagogues, had 73 members.

New rabbi aims to unite local Jewish community

Kalmenson, who will take over leadership at the cultural center, told Chabad.org that he believed the actual number of Jews living in Andorra to be substantially higher — perhaps 250 among a total population of around 80,000.

In addition to helping locals obtain kosher food, receive Jewish education, and fulfill other commandments under Jewish law, Kalmenson’s duties will include serving Jewish travelers who visit the principality, which officially has two heads of state: the French president and the Catholic bishop of Urgell, in the Spanish region of Catalonia. Last year, roughly 10 million people visited Andorra, drawn by its luxury duty-free shopping and ski resorts.

“We hope to bring everyone together — the veteran community members and those who’ve never been involved in Jewish life before,” Kalmenson told Chabad.org.