Who Was the Last Jew in Afghanistan? | Unpacked

The history of Jews in Afghanistan is shrouded in myth. From the Pashtun legend of Lost Tribe origin to the Jewish communal escape from Iran, one thing is clear: Jews have had a presence in Afghanistan for at least 1,000 years. But the story of the last Jew in Afghanistan remains the most well known. Or so you thought.

00:00 Intro
00:35 The "last Jew of Afghanistan"
00:56 The Pashtun
01:39 The reign of Cyrus the Great
02:01 The Jewish community in Afghanistan
02:23 The Mongols
02:53 Jews flee to Afghanistan from Iran
03:12 Oppression, Pogroms, and Expulsions of Jews in Afghanistan
04:20 World War 2 and the Holocaust
04:40 Immigration to Israel
04:53 Zebulon Simentov, the "last Jew" in Afghanistan
05:52 Isaac Levy, the "second-to-last Jew" in Afghanistan
06:10 The Taliban
06:45 Get refusal (Jewish divorce refusal)
07:10 The "last Jew" leaves Afghanistan
07:55 Tova Moradi, the real last Jew of Afghanistan
08:47 Tova Moradi escapes from the Taliban to Canada
09:25 Annihilation of minorities in Afghan society
10:12 The endurance of Afghan Jews

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Recommended video—How Jews Ended Up in India and China

Let’s connect:
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Image and footage credits:
Wellcome Collection
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Dottie Bennett
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Yad Ben-Zvi
IsraAID
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Executive Producer:
— Barry Skolnick
Co-Executive Producer:
— Shmuel Katz
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Translation credits:

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#history #afghanistan #traditional

[mietekjaroszek]

Jews didn't escape Afghanistan because of the Talibans like people think, they just couldn't stand Zebulon.

[soulie]

The fact that the 2 old guys were calling eachother Heretics and Nonbelievers so much that the Taliban kicked them out of jail is hilarious.

[_sayan_roy_]

Don't talk against Zebulon behind his back. He will hear you from miles away and shout at you, "Old pimp. Rascal". Actually, even if you don't do that, he would still shout that to you.

[JonWintersGold]

Simentov legit would rather live under Taliban rule than let his wife divorce him!!! Now thats real matrimonial animosity.

[DabaksolGuardPost]

Oh so this is the face of Zabulon. I will miss his fight with Isaac.

[soysaucehairdye]

A lot of buddhists once lived there as well. I mean Afghanistan once was a very safe tourist destination back in the 60s or so.

[moiez]

as an Afghan that old jews woman made me sad, I hope one day all our Afghan jews comes back to Afghanistan to live in their land in peace along their muslims and sikhs brothers.

[rtmusicvideos]

As a Bukharian Jew, I understand the dialect of Farsi that was used in the argument between Simentov and the Rabbi, so I know the translation did not fully capture everything they said to each other…in the original language it’s even more hilarious!

[arimermelstein]

Thank you for covering this from all angles, properly. Almost everyone else who tells this story leaves out the get recusal part.

[BUKKAKEMASTR]

Excellent video! As a Jewish Afghan/mashadi you nailed this one.. it's a shame that a 2, 500 year lineage in Afghanistan ended. Am Yisrael Chai.

[BrokenCircle]

My 11th grade history teacher (An older Jewish woman) once said "No matter where we go people try to kill us, I am grateful to be in America."

She was a great teacher. I hope she's doing well.

[Exodus]

... I remember watching this in 2014, finding it on DVD at a local library...

I thought there were 2 last Jews and during the recording of the documentary one died?

I enjoyed the documentary and you guys adding to the story... Thanks!

During these times the world needs to be educated more than ever!

[aktcdc]

3:03 - he mention they fled to israel because of the actions of amir abdul rahman khan. but abdul rahman khan died in 1901. israel as a country did not exist yet.

[barbarakoontharana]

Such an interesting history! Who knew? Thanks for creating it!

[benlafontaine]

New subscriber here! Thank you very much for sharing many interesting videos about diverse topics related to the rich history of the Jewish people. Especially with videos of long lost, undocumented and forgotten history that do tell us a lot about where people come from. 🙏

[eyalbenmoshe]

Great video! You make really great content!

[DavidS-wmud]

Really interesting to see this covered. I always thought there were some interesting similarities between Pushtu and Hebrew, especially in the throat sounds. Again, it all goes back to the promise, "as many as the stars in the heavens"! We are everywhere, Abraham's seed.

[thepiissingponny]

My grandpa's 2nd cousin!

It's a shame we wernt welcomed in Afghanistan and these same people say we aren't welcomed in Israel

Most of israels population are Sephardic jews not European! Kicked out or Muslim countries and found home in israel where our ancestors were from and our holy sites are.

The world can either accept peace or attack us, but unlike before we can defend ourselves now and take our security very seriously

[mysteriousDSF]

3:03 my guy restricted air travel back in 1880, he was truly ahead of his time

[eduardobenitez]

I am from Mexico, from the city of Puebla, My city was founded by a Jewish woman
Mirian Pérez or María de Estrada, Some historians say she was a Spanish Jewish woman
Please can you talk about the Jewish community in Mexico, its history dates back to the time of the viceroyalty of Nueva España when several Sephardic Jews arrived as crypto-Jews.