A JEWISH MILITARY CHAPLAIN IN AFGHANISTAN

Jewish Military Chaplain Mixes Faith and Patriotism in Afghanistan - Lee Lawrence
Army Capt. Shmuel Felzenberg serves as brigade chaplain with the Army's 82nd Airborne. He wears a black yarmulke, and on his uniform the insignia that mark him as a Jewish chaplain - two tablets topped by a star. In 1999, he walked into an Army recruiter's office in Morristown, NJ. Aware and grateful, he says, "of the persecution and hardship that I did not grow up with," he felt an obligation "as a Jew living in America, reaping the benefits afforded by the Constitution, to pay back." Felzenberg is now on his second wartime deployment - his first was in Iraq. (Christian Science Monitor)

AFGHANISTAN'S LAST JEW

Keeping the faith (Wash. Times)
KABUL, Afghanistan — The first question Zebulon Simentov asked his uninvited guest, eyes wide open at the prospect: "Are you Jewish?" There was a tinge of disappointment when the reply came back negative, but the last Jew standing in Afghanistan didn't miss a beat. "Humanity is one; religion doesn't matter," he said.

Moments later, a Muslim friend entered the room, unfurled a prayer rug in the corner and bowed toward Mecca. An open box of Manischewitz matzos sat next to an empty bottle of whiskey on a table nearby.

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.

His only other co-religionist in the country, Yitzhak Levin, died in January 2005. The pair lived together in the Flower Street synagogue through the Soviet invasion, the civil war and the Taliban regime. And they grew to hate each other. Among other antics, they held separate services, had vicious shouting matches that neighbors say could be heard down the street and denounced each other to the Taliban as spies for Israel's Mossad intelligence agency. ...

Now Mr. Simentov lives alone in the crumbling two-story building, where wrought-iron railings in a Star of David motif could use a fresh coat of blue paint and the courtyard garden has gone to waste. With a brush of the hand, he dismissed having a change of heart since his rival's death. No love has been lost. No one comes to worship at the synagogue anymore, but he continues to pray every day and keep kosher, he said.

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. ...

Although Mr. Simentov's wife and two daughters left for Israel years ago, he has no plans of joining them any time soon... "Go to Israel? What business do I have there?" he said, adding that he doesn't speak Hebrew. "Why should I leave?" ....

SMOTE!

Taliban chief's death a big U.S. victory (AP)
KABUL, Afghanistan - The killing of the top Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah, a one-legged fighter who orchestrated suicide attacks, beheadings and an ethnic massacre, marks a major victory for the U.S. campaign at a time of flagging Afghan support over civilian killings.

As victims of Dadullah's brutality celebrated his death Sunday, analysts called the killing the most significant Taliban loss since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion. But even NATO acknowledged that Dadullah, who directed some of the Taliban's most notorious violence, would soon be replaced.

Dadullah, a top lieutenant of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, was killed in the southern province of Helmand during a U.S.-led operation that also involved NATO and Afghan troops, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said.

Kandahar Gov. Asadullah Khalid, who called Dadullah a "brutal and cruel commander" showed the body to reporters in Kandahar who saw a one-legged corpse with bullet wounds to the head, chest and stomach.

HERE'S A VIDEO DADULLAH ON AL JAZEERA BRAGGING ABOUT HOW HE'S GOING TO KILL ALL THE JEWS AND AMERICANS.

AFGHANISTAN'S LAST JEW GETS PESACH MATZOS

Last Jew in Kabul gets his matzos from N.Y. (MSNBC)
NEW YORK - Every spring Zebolan Simanto, the last Jew in Afghanistan, receives a care package from New York City.

Simanto uses the matzos, grape juice and oil sent by New York’s Afghan Jewish community to conduct the Seder, a meal eaten on the first evening of the Passover holiday to commemorate the enslavement of the Jews in ancient Egypt and their later escape into freedom.

Jack Abraham, the president of Congregation Anshei Shalom, the only Afghan synagogue in the United States, says he started sending the Passover packages to Kabul in 2003 after hearing that Simanto had no matzo for Passover....

Until the middle of the 20th century there were about 10,000 Jews living in Afghanistan but all but Simanto, 45, have fled because of religious persecution.

When the Taliban fell in 2001, Simanto and one other Jew were found in living in a crumbling building in Kabul, apparently locked in an intractable dispute over a 500-year-old Torah that had been taken by the government in 1999.

Following the death of his elderly neighbor in 2005, Simanto is believed to be the last member of Afghanistan’s Jewish community.

IS U.S. USING ISRAELI DRONES OVER IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN?

Maker: Israeli 'Drones' Fly Over Iraq (BREITBART)
JERUSALEM (AP) - Pilotless planes small enough for a single soldier to carry and operate are gathering intelligence for U.S.-led forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Israeli manufacturer said Monday. Elbit Systems, one of Israel's leading defense electronics companies, said its little "Skylark" can cover an area within a range of 6 miles day or night. It is about 7 feet long with a wingspan of nearly 8 feet, the company said.

"Skylark is operational and currently deployed in the global war on terror in Israel, Iraq and Afghanistan," the statement said. It described the Skylark as suited for "close range, beyond-the-next hill, counter-terror missions."

Lt. Col. Matthew McLaughlin of CENTCOM, the American command that handles Iraq and Afghanistan, said the military "would not confirm the use of the drone," but is always looking for aircraft with such capabilities. ...

Earlier this month, state-owned arms-maker Rafael said it had won a contract to supply the U.S. Marine Corps with state-of the-art armored vehicles, and military analysts said Israeli firms had long been supplying and maintaining equipment for American ground and naval forces in Iraq, although both buyers and sellers generally preferred to keep a low profile.