Afghanistan's only Jew, Yitzhak Levi, spent 45 days in
Taliban jail -- not because of his religion, but because, he
said, another Jew who offered him safe passage to Israel
turned him in to the Taliban for practicing sorcery, of all
things.
Earlier last week U.S.-based Jewish activists said they had
reports that Levi and Aaron Simantov, also Jewish, had been
arrested by the hard-line Islamic Taliban rulers in Kabul and
their whereabouts were unknown. According to Levi, who was
released this month, it was Simantov who had him arrested
after Levi accused him of trying to steal a sefer Torah.
Levi said Simantov told the Taliban police about the many
(non-Jewish) women who regularly visit Levi to have their
palms read, or to acquire potions to guarantee them a son or
dissuade a husband from marrying a second wife. Levi said
Simantov, who told him he had come to Afghanistan from
Tajikistan to accompany him and the scroll out of the
country, was not jailed.
Levi, who is well-known in Kabul for his potions and palm
reading, was arrested on similar charges last year and warned
by the Taliban to turn away the women who knock on his giant
wooden gate in the heart of the beleaguered Afghan capital.
Levi, approximately 80, has a good relationship with his
neighbors who call him the ©Jewish mullahª and shoo
away people who visit on Shabbos. He is believed to be the
last Afghan Jew living in Afghanistan, and has refused to
leave Kabul despite offers from Jewish groups around the
world to pay air fare. He guards the ancient sefer
Torah in his possession. His family migrated to Israel
several years ago.
