THE LAST JEW IN AFGHANISTAN. Meet Zebulon Simentov:

Locals refer to Mr. Simentov, 47, simply as "the Jew." Originally from the western city of Herat, he dons a yarmulke with his shalwar kameez and swears that "half of Kabul" knows him, though probably not for the reasons he would like to think.

...A couple of years back, he paid a visit to the rabbi of Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, who gave Mr. Simentov the authority to kill his own animals because no other qualified Jews could be found for hundreds of miles.

This was not always the case, Mr. Simentov said, explaining that there were more than 40,000 at the turn of the 19th century as Persian Jews fled from forced conversions in neighboring Iran.

The establishment of Israel in 1948 and the 1979 Soviet invasion combined to empty the community.

Mr. Simentov said he preferred the communist period and even the Taliban to the current government, which he calls a "mafia regime."

And yet he has no plans to join his wife and 2 daughters in Israel.

[Hat tip: Hot Air Headlines]

Technorati Tag: Jews and Afghanistan and Zebulon Simentov.