In Afghanistan, a Jewish Community of One

[oberliner]

Morning Edition, July 19, 2007 · What was once a thriving Jewish community in Afghanistan is today made up of just one man.

Zabolon Simantov lives alone in a small room next to a crumbling synagogue. His wife and two daughters live in Israel, and Simantov says he often contemplates joining them.

But staying in Afghanistan, he says, is the only way to keep the country's Jewish history alive.

"I don't want my Jewish heritage erased. My father was a rabbi, my grandfather was a rabbi. We were a big, religious family," Simantov, 47, says.

http://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=9678526

[rockymountaindem]

1. It's really, really shocking what we've lost in the 20th century

Not only in terms of human life, but also in terms of our religio-cultural diversity. The worst part is that I don't think very many people really understand what that means for us.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. I agree.

And even more sad, IMO, is the number of Jews who don't seem to understand it.

[rockymountaindem]

3. Yes

But it's up to us to educate them. One of my Hebrew School teachers was/is a Jewish refugee from Morocco, so I was confronted with this at an early date.

[Ian David]

4. Also, see these prior threads

See this movie: The Silent Exodus
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=1688110#1688612


BBC: Inside Iran's Jewish community
Topic started by CJCRANE on Sep-22-06 07:21 AM (3 replies)
Last modified by IanDB1 on Sep-22-06 07:50 AM
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=103&topic_id=236673