14 Facts About Zablon Simintov

Zablon Simintov or Zebulon Simentov is an Afghan-born Israeli former carpet trader and restaurateur.

Zablon Simintov was the caretaker of and lived in the Kabul synagogue, the only synagogue in the Afghan capital city Kabul.

Zablon Simintov was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in the city of Herat in 1959, where he spent most of his early life until his eventual relocation to Kabul.

Zablon Simintov's residence was severely damaged during the Taliban's rise to power in the Second Afghan Civil War, which forced him to move into the city's only synagogue.

Zablon Simintov was detained, jailed and abused several times by Taliban militants during this period, and was extorted by the group at his carpet warehouse in 2001.

Zablon Simintov is known during this time period for his heavily publicized feud with Yitzhak Levi, another Afghan Jew; it has been claimed that the two were expelled from a Taliban-led jail due to their constant fighting.

Zablon Simintov lived at the Kabul synagogue alongside Ishaq Levin, who was thought to be the only other Jew remaining in Afghanistan, until the latter's death on 26 January 2005 at around 80 years of age.

Zablon Simintov deprecated Levin in an interview with British journalist Martin Fletcher; while Levin initially welcomed Zablon Simintov into Kabul's synagogue following the latter's return from Turkmenistan in 1998, the two grew to greatly dislike each other due to personal feuds and religious disagreements.

Zablon Simintov had to obtain special permission from the nearest rabbi in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to slaughter his own livestock for meat in accordance with Jewish dietary laws, as this can normally be done only by a specially-trained Jewish butcher.

Zablon Simintov received regular shipments of special kosher supplies on Passover from Afghan Jews living in New York.

Zablon Simintov has stated that he wore his kippah only in private and was hesitant to allow visitors into the synagogue in Kabul that he had been maintaining.

Zablon Simintov lived alone in a small synagogue room and received donations from Jewish groups abroad, as well as from sympathetic Muslim locals.

In November 2013, Zablon Simintov announced that he would close his kebab restaurant in March 2014 due to declining business after the reduction of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Zablon Simintov remained in Kabul despite having been given chances to leave including by businessman Mordechai Kahana, who offered to pay for a private airplane to take him to Israel.