I read with disbelief on the US Department of State website that an entire race of people has left Afghanistan. In 2005, there were two Jews but one has since died leaving only one Jewish Afghan left to represent the faith. How must he feel?
The US Department of State International Religious Freedom Report 2010 states that in a country with a population of somewhere between 24 to 33 million people, there are 80% Sunni Muslim, 19% Shi’a Muslim and a small nondescript population of Sikhs, Baha’is and Hindu. There are a few Christians but only one Jewish man. How would you like to be him?
Afghanistan used to be home to a thriving population of Jewish people but the dominant religion has always been Islam. However, Jewish people have lived in Afghanistan for nearly three millennia. At one time during the 1800s there were nearly 40,000 Jews.
Although an official nationwide census hasn’t been conducted in decades, it has been verified by Israel as well that there is only one Jewish man left in Afghanistan. The synagogue still stands but has been closed due to a lack of Jewish community.
There are no Christian churches as the Afghan government destroyed the last remaining church in 2010. Military bases do have some chapels as some refugees have converted to Christianity over the years and returned to Afghan soil.
How does the last Jewish believer feel about his isolation from other Jewish people? You have to wonder. In the Christian faith, our community of believers is an important part of gathering and worshipping and I believe it to be the same for Jewish believers. I have friends who worship regularly at their shul.
The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise states that “A Jewish presence in Afghanistan goes back around 2,700 years. While there were possibly 80,000 Jews in the region in the 12th century, the number was about 40,000 in 1839.”
In just one century the population dropped from 40,000 to 5,000. The American-Israeli Cooperative attributes the decline to Afghan Muslim authorities who enacted anti-Jewish measures that, in turn, triggered a mass exodus to Asia, Persia and the Palestine.
I wonder if the man feels like an island surrounded by sharks.
Sources:
http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2010/148786.htm
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html
http://www.hillel.org/hillelapps2/partners/partner.aspx?agencyid=18042