Mikhail Abdurakhmanov, a gaunt, mustachioed man with salt-and-pepper hair and sharp facial features, is the last rabbi in Tajikistan. He greeted me wearily in the courtyard of the country’s only synagogue, located in a crammed neighborhood of the capital, Dushanbe. It opened in May 2009 and is almost impossible to find; for some time, it lacked an actual address, which prevented the Jewish community from officially registering with the government. The building has no Jewish insignia on its exterior and is surrounded on all sides by high security gates. A group of children—some Jewish, some not—play loudly in the alleyway outside.
(Read the rest of the article in Tablet magazine).
(Read the rest of the article in Tablet magazine).