Not everyone can travel freely and effortlessly. For some, religion literally gets in the way.

A colleague visited us for a few days who eats exclusively kosher food. That would be fine, but there isn't a single kosher restaurant in Belgrade. This happens pretty often in cities with small Jewish communities.

One of the largest Hasidic movements figured things out and started opening Chabad houses in different countries starting in the early 1970s. Today there are roughly 17,000 of them worldwide by some estimates. They welcome not just members of their own movement, but basically any Jews and interested people.

Often it's just a rabbi's house from the local community, with a prayer room for religious celebrations and other events. They also prepare kosher food for visitors and anyone who wants it there. Not for free, of course.

I don't know how it works in other places, but in Belgrade you can't just show up from the street for dinner. You have to book in advance. We went there to eat — it felt like stepping into a parallel universe. But the food was pretty good, really tasty.