Jews in Afghanistan

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Jews have lived in Afghanistan since ancient times , but the community has decreased significantly due to persecution and emigration. Today, Afghan Jewish communities exist mostly in Israel , the United States, and Europe .

history

The history of the Jews of Afghanistan probably goes back 2500 years to the Babylonian exile in 598 BC. And the Persian conquest of Bactria in 538 BC. Chr.

Mentions of a Jewish population in Afghanistan go back to the 7th century, the Arab conquest. The Arabs forced the Jews to convert to Islam. Rock inscriptions in Hebrew letters on the Silk Road between Herat and Kabul are dated to the year 750 AD.

In 1080 the Spanish-Jewish Moses ibn Esra mentioned 40,000 Jews paying tribute to Ghazni and Benjamin of Tudela mentioned in his report, journeys of Benjamin from Tudela in the 12th century, 80,000 Jews.

During the invasion of Genghis Khan in 1222, the number of increasingly isolated Jewish communities diminished. Only in 1839 did the population grow again due to a wave of refugees from the Iranian city of Mesched to Herat and reached the size of approx. 40,000.

Since 1870 the Jews were persecuted by the Afghan authorities who tried to drive them out. In 1876, the Uzbek tribes revolted against the Afghan rulers of Maimana, and 13 Jews from the ranks of the community leadership were murdered by Afghans who were besieging the city and trying to regain control. The day of this massacre became a day of mourning and remembrance within the Jewish community.

By 1948 about 5,000 Jews left the country despite a ban, and after they were allowed to emigrate in 1951, most of them moved to Israel. Around 300 remained in their homeland until 1969; Most of these emigrated with the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in 1979, leaving 10 Afghan Jews in 1996, most of them in Kabul. Many Jews were forced to keep their identities hidden.

During the Taliban's rule until 2002, only two Jews remained in the country: Zebulon Simentov , born in 1960 and Isaak Levi, who was around 35 years older. The conflict-ridden relationship between Simentov and Levy was inspired by the news reports of the reporters accompanying the US troops during Operation Enduring Freedom, as the basis for two plays: "The last two Jews of Kabul" des Playwright Josh Greenfeld; it was staged in New York in 2002 and the British tragic comedy My brother's keeper directed by Michael Flexer in 2006.

Isaak Levi died in mid-January 2005.

The lost tribes

Numerous Muslim and some Jewish scholars are convinced that the majority of Afghans, namely the Pashtun people or at least some of their tribes, are descendants of the exiled lost tribes of Israel . As evidence of this claim, they cite oral traditions and the names of the various tribes that resemble the names of the tribes exiled from Assyria 2700 years ago , such as Rabani ( Ruben ), Jaji ( Gad ), Shinvari ( Simeon ), Afridi ( Efraim ), Jamshidi ( Manasseh ) and the Pathans tribe who claim descent from King Saul .

Other evidence of Israeli population in Afghanistan date back to the 7th century, where the Taaqati-Nasiri , a people mentioned, the Bani Israel , which in Ghor was established. According to a Pashtun legend, descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel lived here. It is believed that the name Kabul "from Cain and Abel" and the name Afghanistan from Afghana , a grandson of King Saul .

However, this claim was not confirmed by a recent genetic test carried out on a small unspecified group of Pashtuns living in India. No significant connection between Jews and Pashtuns could be proven. The Pashto is still used when a Hebrew origin is to be proven.

One could conclude that these claims arose as a result of the Islamization of Afghanistan among the Pashtuns. It is assumed that many tribes constructed a Jewish progeny, as it were, in order to put themselves on an equal footing with the influential peoples mentioned in the Koran such as Jews, Greeks (see Alexander in the Koran ) and Arabs with whom one maintained contact, but their genetic contribution apparently dwindled of the population instead of fundamentally changing the demographics of Afghanistan.

Afghan Jews today

In 2008 there were more than 20,000 Jews of Afghan origin in Israel . The next largest Afghan-Jewish population group, with around 200 families, lives in New York City , in the districts of Flushing , Forest Hills , Jamaica or Queens . There are also smaller groups in Great Britain and other European countries.

Rabbi Jacob Nasirov is the head of the Jewish Orthodox Congregation of Anshei Shalom , the only Afghan synagogue in the United States. Its members have roots not only in Afghanistan, but also in Yemen , Syria , Russia , Iraq , Morocco and Lebanon .

References