Zabulon Simantov is expected to arrive in Israel in the coming days after fleeing Afghanistan via the US due to the Taliban takeover of his home country.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
OCTOBER 17, 2021
Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, Chairman of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States (L),
with Afghanistan's last Jew, Zabulon Simantov (R).
(photo credit: YEHUDA CHITRIK)
The last remaining Jew in Afghanistan, Zabulon Simantov, is on his way to Israel after leaving his home due to the complete takeover of the country by the Taliban, after the group installed its own government in Kabul in late August.
"On the way to Israel: Zebulun Siman Tov, the last Jew in Afghanistan, who fled recently after the Taliban takeover, is expected to arrive in Israel in the coming days," KAN 11's Arab Affairs Correspondent Roi Kias tweeted."
Simantov had said earlier in an interview with Indian news network WION that he wished to stay in Afghanistan in order to maintain his synagogue, but reports noted that his decision may have been connected to his refusal to grant his estranged Israeli wife a get, or Jewish divorce.
Israeli-American businessman Mordechai "Moti" Kahana had offered to charter a flight to transport Simantov to Israel, and Simantov accepted but changed his mind at the last minute.
In September, Simantov left for the United States, citing concerns about the terrorism threat posed by groups such as ISIS-K, which has claimed responsibility for several recent attacks in Afghanistan.
Zabulon Simantov is greeted by Rabbi Mendy Chitrik at the arrivals gate at an airport in Turkey. Credit: Yehuda Chitrik
The last remaining Jew in Afghanistan, Zabulon Simantov, is on his way to Israel after leaving his home due to the complete takeover of the country by the Taliban, after the group installed its own government in Kabul in late August.
"On the way to Israel: Zebulun Siman Tov, the last Jew in Afghanistan, who fled recently after the Taliban takeover, is expected to arrive in Israel in the coming days," KAN 11's Arab Affairs Correspondent Roi Kias tweeted."
Simantov had said earlier in an interview with Indian news network WION that he wished to stay in Afghanistan in order to maintain his synagogue, but reports noted that his decision may have been connected to his refusal to grant his estranged Israeli wife a get, or Jewish divorce.
Israeli-American businessman Mordechai "Moti" Kahana had offered to charter a flight to transport Simantov to Israel, and Simantov accepted but changed his mind at the last minute.
In September, Simantov left for the United States, citing concerns about the terrorism threat posed by groups such as ISIS-K, which has claimed responsibility for several recent attacks in Afghanistan.
Zabulon Simantov is greeted by Rabbi Mendy Chitrik at the arrivals gate at an airport in Turkey. Credit: Yehuda Chitrik
Zabulon Simantov (bottom, far right) participates in the get proceedings over Zoom.
(credit: Rabbi Mendy Chitrik)
The rabbis who helped facilitate Simantov's departure required as a precondition that he grant his wife her divorce, to which he agreed.
Kahana and Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, Chairman of the Alliance of Rabbis in the Islamic States, organized the get proceedings. Signing a harasha, a Jewish legal document similar to a power of attorney, which was translated to Pashto, Simantov authorized the Beit Din (Jewish court) of Sydney, Australia to send the get to another Beit Din in Israel, finalizing the divorce.
The rabbis who helped facilitate Simantov's departure required as a precondition that he grant his wife her divorce, to which he agreed.
Kahana and Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, Chairman of the Alliance of Rabbis in the Islamic States, organized the get proceedings. Signing a harasha, a Jewish legal document similar to a power of attorney, which was translated to Pashto, Simantov authorized the Beit Din (Jewish court) of Sydney, Australia to send the get to another Beit Din in Israel, finalizing the divorce.
Rescuers: Last Jew of Kabul making his way to Israel
By JOSEF FEDERMAN
In this Aug. 29, 2009 file photo, Zebulon Simentov, the last known Jew living in Afghanistan, sits in his Kabul home. Simentov could soon be heading to Israel, after agreeing to grant his estranged wife a religious divorce in a Zoom call — a precondition for entry to the Holy Land. Simentov, who fled Afghanistan last month after the Taliban takeover, landed Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021 in Turkey on what his rescuers say is a final stop before landing in Israel. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
JERUSALEM (AP) — The man known as the last Jew of Kabul could soon be heading to Israel, after agreeing to grant his estranged wife a religious divorce in a Zoom call — a precondition for smooth entry to the Holy Land.
Zebulon Simentov, who fled Afghanistan last month after the Taliban takeover, landed Sunday in Turkey on what his rescuers say is a final stop before traveling to Israel, perhaps as soon as this week.
It caps a weekslong odyssey that included an escape from his homeland as well as a videoconference divorce procedure meant to ensure he will not run into trouble with Israeli authorities.
Under Jewish religious law, a husband must agree to grant his wife a divorce, something he had refused to do for many years. Facing the prospect of legal action in Israel, where his ex-wife lives, Simentov, after resisting for years, finally agreed to the divorce last month in a special Zoom call supervised by Australian rabbinical authorities.
The Associated Press viewed part of the proceeding. During the sometimes chaotic discussion, conducted through an interpreter who struggled to explain the procedure, Simentov agrees to sign a divorce document known as a “get” after receiving assurances that he will not face trouble in Israel.
Rabbi Moshe Margaretten, whose nonprofit group Tzedek Association funded the journey, said Simentov had spent the last few weeks living quietly in Pakistan, an Islamic country that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
He said his group had looked into bringing Simentov to the U.S. but decided that Israel was a better destination both because of difficulties in arranging a U.S. entry visa and because Simentov has many relatives, including five siblings and two daughters, already in Israel.
“We are relieved we were successful in helping Zebulon Simentov escape from Afghanistan and now into safety in Turkey,” said Margaretten, whose group has helped evacuate several dozen other people from Afghanistan. “Zebulon’s life was in danger in Afghanistan.”
Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, chairman of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, greeted Simentov at the airport in Istanbul on Sunday.
He said he had an appointment to take Simentov to the Israeli consulate on Monday to arrange his entry to Israel. Under Israel’s “Law of Return,” any Jew is entitled to Israeli citizenship.
Chitrik said he had been working with Margaretten and other volunteers for several months to get Simentov out of Afghanistan. “I’m happy this issue is finally coming to rest,” he said.
How long that will take remains unclear. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was unaware of the request and Simentov could also be delayed by coronavirus protocols restricting entry to Israel.
Simentov, who lived in a dilapidated synagogue in Kabul, kept kosher and prayed in Hebrew, endured decades of war as the country’s centuries-old Jewish community rapidly dwindled. But the Taliban takeover in August seems to have been the last straw.
Moti Kahana, an Israeli-American businessman who runs a private firm that organized the evacuation on behalf of Margaretten, told The Associated Press last month that Simentov was not worried about the Taliban because he had lived under their rule before. He said that threats of the more radical Islamic State group and pressure from neighbors who were rescued with him had helped persuade him to leave.
Hebrew manuscripts found in caves in northern Afghanistan indicate a thriving Jewish community existed there at least 1,000 years ago. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan was home to some 40,000 Jews, many of them Persian Jews who had fled forced conversion in neighboring Iran. The community’s decline began with an exodus to Israel after its creation in 1948.
In an interview with The Associated Press in 2009, Simentov said the last Jewish families left after the 1979 Soviet invasion.
For several years he shared the synagogue building with the country’s only other Jew, Isaak Levi, but they despised each other and feuded during the Taliban’s previous rule from 1996 to 2001.
At one point, Levi accused Simentov of theft and spying and Simentov countered by accusing Levi of renting rooms to prostitutes, an allegation he denied, The New York Times reported in 2002. The Taliban arrested both men and beat them, and they confiscated the synagogue’s ancient Torah scroll, which went missing after the Taliban were driven from power in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.
When his 80-year-old housemate died in 2005, Simentov said he was happy to be rid of him.
Reporters who visited Simentov over the years — and paid the exorbitant fees he charged for interviews — found a portly man fond of whiskey, who kept a pet partridge and watched Afghan TV. He observed Jewish dietary restrictions and ran a kebab shop.
Born in the western city of Herat in 1959, he always insisted Afghanistan was home.
The Taliban, like other Islamic militant groups, are hostile to Israel but tolerated the country’s miniscule Jewish community during their previous reign.
By JOSEF FEDERMAN
In this Aug. 29, 2009 file photo, Zebulon Simentov, the last known Jew living in Afghanistan, sits in his Kabul home. Simentov could soon be heading to Israel, after agreeing to grant his estranged wife a religious divorce in a Zoom call — a precondition for entry to the Holy Land. Simentov, who fled Afghanistan last month after the Taliban takeover, landed Sunday, Oct. 17, 2021 in Turkey on what his rescuers say is a final stop before landing in Israel. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
JERUSALEM (AP) — The man known as the last Jew of Kabul could soon be heading to Israel, after agreeing to grant his estranged wife a religious divorce in a Zoom call — a precondition for smooth entry to the Holy Land.
Zebulon Simentov, who fled Afghanistan last month after the Taliban takeover, landed Sunday in Turkey on what his rescuers say is a final stop before traveling to Israel, perhaps as soon as this week.
It caps a weekslong odyssey that included an escape from his homeland as well as a videoconference divorce procedure meant to ensure he will not run into trouble with Israeli authorities.
Under Jewish religious law, a husband must agree to grant his wife a divorce, something he had refused to do for many years. Facing the prospect of legal action in Israel, where his ex-wife lives, Simentov, after resisting for years, finally agreed to the divorce last month in a special Zoom call supervised by Australian rabbinical authorities.
The Associated Press viewed part of the proceeding. During the sometimes chaotic discussion, conducted through an interpreter who struggled to explain the procedure, Simentov agrees to sign a divorce document known as a “get” after receiving assurances that he will not face trouble in Israel.
Rabbi Moshe Margaretten, whose nonprofit group Tzedek Association funded the journey, said Simentov had spent the last few weeks living quietly in Pakistan, an Islamic country that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
He said his group had looked into bringing Simentov to the U.S. but decided that Israel was a better destination both because of difficulties in arranging a U.S. entry visa and because Simentov has many relatives, including five siblings and two daughters, already in Israel.
“We are relieved we were successful in helping Zebulon Simentov escape from Afghanistan and now into safety in Turkey,” said Margaretten, whose group has helped evacuate several dozen other people from Afghanistan. “Zebulon’s life was in danger in Afghanistan.”
Rabbi Mendy Chitrik, chairman of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, greeted Simentov at the airport in Istanbul on Sunday.
He said he had an appointment to take Simentov to the Israeli consulate on Monday to arrange his entry to Israel. Under Israel’s “Law of Return,” any Jew is entitled to Israeli citizenship.
Chitrik said he had been working with Margaretten and other volunteers for several months to get Simentov out of Afghanistan. “I’m happy this issue is finally coming to rest,” he said.
How long that will take remains unclear. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it was unaware of the request and Simentov could also be delayed by coronavirus protocols restricting entry to Israel.
Simentov, who lived in a dilapidated synagogue in Kabul, kept kosher and prayed in Hebrew, endured decades of war as the country’s centuries-old Jewish community rapidly dwindled. But the Taliban takeover in August seems to have been the last straw.
Moti Kahana, an Israeli-American businessman who runs a private firm that organized the evacuation on behalf of Margaretten, told The Associated Press last month that Simentov was not worried about the Taliban because he had lived under their rule before. He said that threats of the more radical Islamic State group and pressure from neighbors who were rescued with him had helped persuade him to leave.
Hebrew manuscripts found in caves in northern Afghanistan indicate a thriving Jewish community existed there at least 1,000 years ago. In the late 19th century, Afghanistan was home to some 40,000 Jews, many of them Persian Jews who had fled forced conversion in neighboring Iran. The community’s decline began with an exodus to Israel after its creation in 1948.
In an interview with The Associated Press in 2009, Simentov said the last Jewish families left after the 1979 Soviet invasion.
For several years he shared the synagogue building with the country’s only other Jew, Isaak Levi, but they despised each other and feuded during the Taliban’s previous rule from 1996 to 2001.
At one point, Levi accused Simentov of theft and spying and Simentov countered by accusing Levi of renting rooms to prostitutes, an allegation he denied, The New York Times reported in 2002. The Taliban arrested both men and beat them, and they confiscated the synagogue’s ancient Torah scroll, which went missing after the Taliban were driven from power in the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.
When his 80-year-old housemate died in 2005, Simentov said he was happy to be rid of him.
Reporters who visited Simentov over the years — and paid the exorbitant fees he charged for interviews — found a portly man fond of whiskey, who kept a pet partridge and watched Afghan TV. He observed Jewish dietary restrictions and ran a kebab shop.
Born in the western city of Herat in 1959, he always insisted Afghanistan was home.
The Taliban, like other Islamic militant groups, are hostile to Israel but tolerated the country’s miniscule Jewish community during their previous reign.
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