He decided to stay in Kabul to face the Taliban and take care of the only synagogue: who is Zabulon Simantov, the last Jew in Afghanistan

Zabulon Simantov, Afghanistan’s last Jew, decided to stay in Kabul after the Taliban returned. Indian news channel said WION.

Islamic militias said they would respect his life. In recent days, in the midst of the Sunni fundamentalist group’s lightning offensive, he had made the decision to leave the country.

“Why would I stay? They call me unfaithful “he had said to AFP in an interview held in the only remaining synagogue in Kabul, in an old building in the center of the capital held by the Taliban.

His argument seemed compelling. “I am the last, the only Jew in Afghanistan. Things could get worse for me here. I decided to go to Israel if the Taliban come back ”.

Simantov is 61 years old and does not speak Hebrew, but he had everything prepared to travel to Israel, where his wife of Tajiko origin and their two daughters live. There he planned to spend the Jewish holidays of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah.

“I will see on Israeli television what happens in Afghanistan,” he said shortly after. Arab News. But something happened in his mind after the Taliban returned to Kabul. Overnight, he decided to abandon his migration plans and stay in the country.

Zabulon Simantov, the last Jew in Afghanistan

“I will not leave my house. If I had left there would have been no one to maintain the synagogue», He assured, quoted by Jerusalem post.

Simantov has a compelling argument: he will stay in his country to attend the only remaining synagogue in Afghanistan.

And he declared: “I managed to protect the Kabul synagogue like a lion. Simantov says he prays every day and complies the laws of kashrut, the precepts of the Jewish religion which specify what can and cannot be ingested based on the biblical precepts. As he once said, he euthanizes the animals he consumes himself after receiving permission from the rabbi in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The last Jew

Simantov is considered the last Jew in the country since 2005, when he died Yitzhak Levi, with whom he didn’t get along as he admitted in another interview. “It’s the devil”, he continued by affirming.

The man now lives in the synagogue. In an interview with Israeli media can, a representative of the Taliban assured that non-Islamic beliefs would be respected. Spokesman Suhail Shaseen said: “No I know the last Jew. We don’t hurt minorities. There are Sikhs and Hindus in the country and they have freedom of religion. It is not necessary for people to flee ”, Indian.