Jews have lived in Afghanistan for at least 2,000 years, but the community has been reduced greatly because of persecution and emigration. Afghan Jewish communities now exist mostly in Israel and the United States. Today, it is believed there is only one Jew in the entire country. He cares for a said to be in disrepair Synagogue in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul. A synagogue or synagog (from Greek συναγωγή, transliterated sunagoge, place of assembly literally meeting, assembly) is a Jewish house of prayer and study. ... Kabul Kabul (34°32′ N 69°10′ E, Kâbl, in Persian کابل) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan with a population variously estimated at 2 to 4 million. ...

History

It may be possible that Jews have a history of 2,500 years in Afghanistan, tracing back to the Babylonian Exile and Persian conquest. The Babylonian captivity, or Babylonian exile, is the name generally given to the deportation and exile of the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. ... Persian may refer to more than one article: the Western name for Iranian (see Iran/Persia naming controversy) Persian, an Iranian language the Persians, an ethnic group a Persian, a breed of cat Persian, a Pokémon character Etymology English Persian < Old English, < Latin *Persianus, < Latin Persia, < ancient Greek Persis...

As of January 2005, it is believed only a single Jew lived in Afghanistan, Zebulon Simentov (born 1960). With a total Afghan population of 30 million, this amounts to a fraction of 33 ppb, the lowest worldwide. 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Parts per billion (ppb) is a measure of concentration that is used where low levels of concentration are significant. ...

Records of a Jewish population in Afghanistan go back to the 7th century, with the Taaqati-Nasiri mentioning a people called Bani Israel settling in Ghor. The Pashtun have a legend of being descended from one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. The claim that the name Kabul is derived from "Cain and Abel", and the name Afghanistan from Afghana, a grandson of King Saul. // Events Islam starts in Arabia, the Quran is written, and Syria, Iraq, Persia, North Africa and Central Asia convert to Islam. ... Ghowr province (sometimes spelled Ghor) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Main areas populated by Pashtuns including overlapping regions The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun, ethnic Afghan, or Pathan) are an ethno-linguistic group mainly of eastern Iranian stock living primarily in eastern and southern Afghanistan, and the North West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Baluchistan provinces of Pakistan. ... The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel are the ancient Tribes of Israel that disappear from the Biblical account after the Kingdom of Israel was totally destroyed, enslaved and exiled by ancient Assyria. ... Kabul Kabul (34°32′ N 69°10′ E, Kâbl, in Persian کابل) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan with a population variously estimated at 2 to 4 million. ... Saul or Shaul (שָׁאוּל Demanded, Standard Hebrew Šaʾul, Tiberian Hebrew Šāʾûl) was the first king of Israel according to the Old Testament of the Bible, as taught in Judaism. ...

In 1080, Moses ibn Ezra mentions 40,000 Jews paying tribute to Ghazni, and Benjamin of Tudela in the 12th century counts 80,000 Jews. Events William I of England, in a letter, reminds the Bishop of Rome that the King of England owes him no allegiance. ... Moses ibn Ezra was a Jewish, Spanish philosopher, linguist, and poet. ... Minaret, July 2001 Ghazni is a city in central Afghanistan, situated on a plateau at 7280 feet above sea level. ... Map of the route Benjamin of Tudela was a medieval Spanish Jewish Rabbi, traveler and explorer. ...

In the course of Genghis Khan's 1222 invasion, the Jewish communities were reduced to isolated pockets. Only in 1839, the population increased again, swelled by refugees from Persia, reaching some 40,000. This topic is considered to be an essential subject on Wikipedia. ... 1839 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

From 1870, the Afghan authorities persecuted the Jews, leading to mass emigration. By 1948, about 5,000 Jews were left, and after they were allowed to emigrate in 1951, most of them moved to Israel. By 1969, some 300 remained, and most of these left after the Soviet invasion of 1979, leaving 10 Afghan Jews in 1996, most of them in Kabul. More than 10,000 Jews of Afghan descent presently live in Israel. 1870 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

By the end of 2004, only two Jews were left in Afghanistan, Zebulon Simentov and Isaac Levy (born ca. 1920). Levy relied on charity, while Simentov ran a store selling carpets and jewelry until 2001. They lived at separate ends of the delapidated Kabul synagogue, Both claimed to be in charge of the synagogue, and the rightful owner of its Torah, accusing the other of theft and imposture. They kept denouncing each other to the authorities, and both spent time in Taliban jails, and the Taliban also confiscated the Torah.

In January 2005, Levy died. Simentov, now the last remaining Jew in Afghanistan, is trying to recover the confiscated Torah. He claims that the man who stole his Torah is now in U.S. custody in Guantanamo Bay. Simentov has a wife and two daughters who live in Israel, and he said he was considering to join them. But his legacy lives on in the Garrett Forbes memorial located in downtown Kabul. Map of Cuba with location of Guantánamo Bay indicated. ...

Lost Tribes

It is widely believed by many Muslim scholars and some Jewish scholars that the majority ethnic group of Afghanistan, the Pashtuns, are descended from the exiled Lost Tribes of Israel. They cite oral history and the names of various clans, which resemble the names of the Tribes that were exiled by the Assyrian Empire 2,700 years ago, as evidence for this claim. This evidence is not, however, substantiated by recent genetic testing that has found no substantial connection between Jewish populations tested and the Pashtuns. Nor is the Eastern Iranian language of the Pashtuns taken into account when examining the claims of Hebrew ancestry. Since these claims appear to have emerged amongst the Pashtuns following the Islamic conquest of Afghanistan, it is conceivable that many tribes have created elaborate ancestral lineages to link themselves to prominent peoples mentioned in the Quran such as Jews, Greeks (see Alexander in the Qur'an}, and Arabs all of whom have come to the region, but appear to have contributed to various minority genetic strains in the population rather than drastically altering the demographics of Afghanistan. A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) (sometimes also spelled Moslem) is an adherent of Islam. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination of these attributes. ... The Pashtuns (also Pushtun, Pakhtun, or ethnic Afghan; in referring to the period of the British Raj or earlier, sometimes Pathan) are an ethnic/religious group of people, living primarily in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India who follow Pashtunwali, their indigenous religion. ... Lost Ten Tribes, also referenced as the Ten Lost Tribes or the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel, usually refers to ten of the tribes of the ancient Kingdom of Israel that were reported lost after the Kingdom of Israel was totally destroyed, enslaved and exiled by ancient Assyria. ... This article is on the social structure. ... This article concerns the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom. ... The Iranian languages are a part of the Indo European language family. ... The Quran (Arabic al-qurʾān أَلْقُرآن; also transliterated as Quran, Koran, and less commonly Alcoran) is the holy book of Islam. ... Alexander the Great is thought by most scholars to be the Zul-qarnain (meaning The Two-Horned Lord) mentioned in the Quran in Surat Al-Kahf (chapter 18;The Cave). Historical Background Alexander the Great was an immensely popular figure in the classical and post-classical cultures of the...

Contemporary Afghan Jews

More than 10,000 Jews of Afghan descent now live in Israel. The second largest population of Afghan Jews is New York City, with 200 families. They mostly live in Flushing, Jamaica and Queens. Rabbi Jacob Nasirov leads the Orthodox congregation of Anshei Shalom, the lone Afghan synagogue in the United States. Members have roots not only from Afghanistan, but also Yemen, Syria, Russia, Iraq, Morocco and Lebanon. The city is at the center of international finance, politics, entertainment, and culture, and is one of the worlds major global cities (along with London, Tokyo and Paris) with a virtually unrivaled collection of museums, galleries, performance venues, media outlets, international corporations, and stock exchanges. ... Flushing has multiple meanings: For any of several populated places, a village in the United Kingdom, see Flushing, Cornwall a city in the Netherlands, see Flushing, Netherlands a section of the borough of Queens in New York City, see Flushing, New York a city in Genesee County, Michigan, see Flushing... Queens Borough in New York City, in yellow Queens is the largest of the five boroughs of New York City in area. ... Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbī;; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbī) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished, (in knowledge). In the ancient Judean schools the sages were addressed as רִבִּי (Ribbi... Separate articles treat Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Orthodox Judaism. ...

Sources

• 'Only one Jew' now in Afghanistan
• The Virtual Jewish History Tour - Afghanistan