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Afghan Jews
افغان یهودان יהדות אפגניסטן
Jewish cemetery in the city of Herat, 2009
Total population
10,300
Regions with significant populations
Israel
10,000
United States
200
United Kingdom
100
Afghanistan
0[1]
Languages
Hebrew, Dari, Pashto
Religion
Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Other Mizrahi Jews
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Part of a series of articles on
Religion in Afghanistan
Blue Mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif The largest mosque in Afghanistan
Majority
Sunni Islam
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Afghanistan portal
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Part of a series on the
History of Afghanistan
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330–312 BC
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312–150 BC
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305–180 BC
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256–125 BC
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247 BC–224 AD
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180–130 BC
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155–80? BC
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135 BC – 248 AD
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20 BC – 50? AD
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230–651
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320–465
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380–560
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410–557
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484–711
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565–879
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7th–8th centuries
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652–661
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660–669
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660–842
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661–750
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680–870
Lawik
750-977
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750–821
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821–873
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863–900
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875–999
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963–1187
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before 879–1215
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1037–1194
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1215–1231
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1219–1226
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1226–1245
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1224–1266
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1256–1335
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1520–1591
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1510–1709
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1747–1823
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1929
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1978
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2001
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2001–2004
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since 2021
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Arachosia
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Related topics
Political history
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Name
Afghan (ethnonym)
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Category
Afghanistan portal
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The history of the Jews in Afghanistan goes back at least 2,500 years. Ancient Iranian tradition suggests that Jews settled in Balkh, an erstwhile Zoroastrian and Buddhist stronghold, shortly after the collapse of the Kingdom of Judah in 587 BCE.[2] In more recent times, the community has been reduced to complete extinction due to emigration, primarily to Israel.[3][4] At the time of the large-scale 2021 Taliban offensive, only two Jews were still residing in the country: Zablon Simintov and his distant cousin Tova Moradi. When the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan was re-established by the Taliban in August 2021, both Simintov and Moradi made aliyah on 7 September 2021 and 29 October 2021, respectively, leaving Afghanistan completely empty of Jews. Today, the overwhelming majority of the Afghan Jewish community resides in Israel, with a small group of a few hundred living in the United States and the United Kingdom.
In Afghanistan, the Jews had formed a community of leather and karakul merchants, landowners, and moneylenders.[citation needed] Jewish families mostly lived in the cities of Herat and Kabul, while their patriarchs traveled back and forth on trading trips across Afghanistan; they carved their prayers in Hebrew and Aramaic on mountain rocks as they moved between the routes of the Silk Road.[2]
^"Woman now thought to be Afghanistan's last Jew flees country". independent. 29 October 2021. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
^Aharon, Sara Y. (2011). From Kabul to Queens : the Jews of Afghanistan and their move to the United States. American Sephardi Federation. ISBN 9780692010709. OCLC 760003208.
^Cite error: The named reference Arbabzadah-2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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