Kabul, Afghanistan – Zablon Simintov is always guaranteed the best seat in his local synagogue here, but the privilege comes with a downside: he’s the last Jew in Afghanistan.
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The country’s 800-year-old Jewish community — an estimated 40,000 strong at its peak — is now a party of one.
But Simintov, for his part, isn’t going anywhere soon. For more than a decade, he has refused to join his wife and two teenage daughters in Israel.
“My family call me all the time and say, ‘Come here, you’re the last Jew in Afghanistan, what are you doing there?’ ” he says.
Simintov, a former carpet dealer, refuses to answer that question. “I don’t know why I’m still living here,” he says. “It’s God’s will.”
He hasn’t seen his daughters — now ages 14 and 16 — since his one trip to Israel 12 years ago.
But the bald and bespectacled Simintov says he is content guarding a cupboard full of dusty prayer books — one is 400 years old, he says — spending holidays with visitors from Europe and the U.S. and surviving off donations from Jews around the world.
Historical evidence suggests a sizable Jewish community in Afghanistan since the Middle Ages, according to the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, a nonprofit group.
Afghanistan’s Jewish population reached 40,000 in the mid-19th century, the group says, and began declining around 1870 with the passage of anti-Jewish measures.
Israel’s creation in 1948 drew most of Afghanistan’s remaining Jews.
Simintov’s synagogue — the last in Afghanistan’s capital — sits inconspicuously in a courtyard behind busy city streets, though a close inspection reveals Stars of David in second-story metal railings. The interior is adorned only by broken light fixtures and ceiling fans.
But Simintov says he is hardly in hiding. “They’re all like my brothers here,” he said of his fellow Afghans. “It doesn’t make a difference whether I’m here or in Israel.”
That wasn’t the case under Taliban rule, which ended with the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, though Taliban forces have been resurgent in parts of the country.
Simintov says he was arrested four times under Taliban rule and that he was beaten while in custody.
“The Taliban was a problem,” he says. “They interfered in everyone’s business, but now they’re gone, they’re finished.”
Which means that Simintov is more inclined than ever to stay put.
So sad… like the Jews that stayed in Mitzriyam; Simintov has forgotten where he is suppose to be.
Siman tov mazel tov
the new ” Rabbah” is looking for a ”shteler’
He won’t go to the other shul.
Jews have lived in Afghanistan for 2,500 years! This article was written by someone who knows nothing about history.
He is a real Jew that is trained not only in chalacha but also in shchita. Keeping kashroot is not a problem for him.
Is he staying there for fame.? why would he leave behind his poor wife and daughters? sounds a little weird in my eyes.
If he leaves who takes care of the Beis Oilam, the sifrei Kodesk etc. He is waiting for moshiach.
Does he have another shul in case he gets Brogez?
nisht tzi normal. Who in their right mind doesnt mind not seeing his kids and wife in 12 years. This guy has severe issues.
I think its time chabad opens up a community in Kabul. They will already have 1 commited member, only a few more and suddenly….. Welcome to the Chabad Lubavitch Bais Menachem of Afghanistan!
Remember another Jew that was not allowed to enter The Land? Best not to judge this man. Hashem is the Righteous Judge.
Reminds me of East Flatbush
He doesn’t look hungry
there are youtube videos of the last jews in kabul, there is this fellow and another named isaac and they HATE eachother…. search youtube and you will see videos of them bickering…. its hysterical