09 December 2022

Are the Taliban going to
fund the restoration of
a synagogue in Afghanistan?

Yu Aw Synagogue in Herat has been given protected status

Patrick Comerford

In recent months, I have written in Studies about the loss of diversity and pluralism in Afghanistan since the Taliban stormed into Kabul, and I have also written about the loss of the centuries-old Jewish community following the departure of the last Jewish resident of Kabul.

However, reports in recent weeks suggest the Taliban has approved conservation work on an historic synagogue in the city of Herat in western Afghanistan, although no Jews have lived in the area for decades.

Yu Aw synagogue in Herat’s old city is thought to have been built around the turn of the 20th century. The reports say a 16-month restoration project is being planned to save the synagogue from further decay and possible collapse. It is being planned by the Herat municipality and other local organisations, with almost $500,000 in funding from the Aliph Foundation, a Swiss group seeking to protect cultural heritage sites in conflict areas.

The project also includes repairs to the community mikvah or ritual Jewish bath, known as Hammam-e Mosaie. It was once used by Herat’s Jewish residents, who in the past numbered tens of thousands.

The Jewish buildings are in the Mahalla-yi Musahiya area of the city, known by local people as the ‘Neighbourhood of the Jews.’

It will be one of the first cultural conservation projects in the province since US troops were withdrawn and the Taliban overthrew the Western-supported government last year (2021). The synagogue last underwent restoration efforts in 2009, with funding from another Swiss organisation.

The head of Herat’s department for safeguarding historic monuments, Zalmay Safa, told The Art Newspaper, which first reported the story: ‘We want to prove that we are tolerant and accepting of one another, we seek peace, and we are not extremists. Despite the change in government, our historic sites remain protected and they are not in any way connected to religious matters.’

The Yu Aw synagogue, and three other synagogues were built around the same time. They are among the last remaining physical reminders of the presence of a Jewish community in Herat and its vibrant cultural life.

Herat once had tens of thousands of Jewish residents. But they began moving to Israel and the US after World War II. By the 1970s, the Jewish community had completely left.

Reports say there are four synagogues, a bath, and a cemetery in Herat, but so far only the Yu Aw Synagogue has been given protected status. Another synagogue was converted into a mosque, one is used as a school, and a third was heavily damaged in recent conflicts.

Although the latest project has not explicitly been presented as a ‘Jewish Heritage’ project, everyone is aware of the history of the building, and it is not seen as controversial, according to Jolyon Lesie, an adviser, the Afghan Cultural Heritage Consulting Organisation (ACHCO), a non-profit, apolitical, cultural organisation, an ACHCO, who spoke to The Art Newspaper.

Zalmay Safa, director of Herat’s department for the safeguarding of historic monuments, says: ‘This is a cultural and historic site, which is not used as a place of worship, and the local government will support its preservation. Despite the change in government our historic sites remain protected, and they are not in any way connected to religious matters.’

The last two Jewish people living in Afghanistan left a month after the Taliban took over last year. Zablon Simintov, also known as Zebulon Simentov, a former carpet trader and restaurateur, was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Herat in 1959, and he spent most of his early life there until he moved to Kabul, where he was also the caretaker of the country’s only remaining synagogue.

After the death of Ishaq Levin at the age of 80 in 2005, Zablon Simintov was widely known as the only Jew still living in Afghanistan. However, when he left he left for Israel in September 2021, it was discovered that his distant cousin, Tova Moradi, was actually the last Jew living in Afghanistan. She too fled Afghanistan last year with 20 or so grandchildren, leaving for Albania in October 2021.

Shabbat Shalom

Praying in Advent with Lichfield Cathedral
and USPG: Friday 9 December 2022

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn’ (Matthew 11: 17) … traditional musicians in Nevşehir in Turkey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

We are coming to the end of the second week of Advent. Before today gets busy, I am taking some time this morning for reading, prayer and reflection.

During Advent, I am reflecting in these ways:

1, The reading suggested in the Advent and Christmas Devotional Calendar produced by Lichfield Cathedral this year;

2, praying with the Lichfield Cathedral Devotional Calendar;

3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary, ‘Pray with the World Church.’

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn’ (Matthew 11: 17) … ‘Τα κάλαντα’ (‘Carols’), Νικηφόρος Λύτρας (Nikiphoros Lytras)

Matthew 11: 16-19 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 16 ‘But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market-places and calling to one another,

17 “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;
we wailed, and you did not mourn.”

18 ‘For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon”; 19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!” Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.’

Marc Chagall’s painting ‘The Fiddler’ (1913) … inspired the title of the film ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ (1971)

The Lichfield Cathedral Devotional Calendar:

Reflect on how easy it is to miss the point and the deep treasure in what has become familiar to us, how we’re easily manipulated by public opinion. Pray for true insight.

Collect:

O Lord, raise up, we pray, your power
and come among us,
and with great might succour us;
that whereas, through our sins and wickedness
we are grievously hindered
in running the race that is set before us,
your bountiful grace and mercy
may speedily help and deliver us;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honour and glory, now and for ever.

Post Communion:

Father in heaven,
who sent your Son to redeem the world
and will send him again to be our judge:
give us grace so to imitate him
in the humility and purity of his first coming
that, when he comes again,
we may be ready to greet him
with joyful love and firm faith;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Additional Collect:

Almighty God, purify our hearts and minds,
that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again
as judge and saviour
we may be ready to receive him,
who is our Lord and our God.

USPG Prayer Diary:

The theme in the USPG Prayer Diary this week is ‘Human Rights in the Philippines.’ This theme was introduced on Sunday with an excerpt from the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (Philippine Independent Church) human rights report by USPG.

The USPG Prayer Diary invites us to pray today in these words:

Let us pray for the indigenous people of the Philippines. May their voice be heard, their rights safeguarded and their land protected.

Yesterday’s reflection

Continued tomorrow

‘Reflect on how easy it is to miss … the deep treasure in what has become familiar to us’ (Lichfield Cathedral Devotional Calendar) … a folded cross was one of the few religious items found in the Staffordshire Hoard near Lichfield

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org