Yu Aw Synagogue

There is no definitive date of construction of the synagogue. When Israel was founded in 1948, the estimated 280 Jewish families that lived in Herat began leaving. As of 2021, there were no Jews in Afghanistan.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/08/afghanistans-last-jew-leaves-country |title=Afghanistan's last Jew leaves country |work=The Guardian |date=8 September 2021 |access-date=January 8, 2024 |author= }}{{cite web |author1=Motevalli, Golnar |title=Relics of old Afghanistan reveal Jewish past |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-afghanistan-synagogue/relics-of-old-afghanistan-reveal-jewish-past-idUKTRE55N02220090624 |work=Reuters |date=2009-06-24 |access-date=2020-08-21}}

In 2020, Al Jazeera reported that part of the complex was restored by the local government in 2009.{{cite web |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2020/02/herat-restored-synagogues-reveal-afghanistan-jewish-200203084902210.html |title=Herat’s restored synagogues reveal Afghanistan’s Jewish past |work=Al Jazeera |date=2002-03-08 |access-date= |author= }} It is the only synagogue in Herat that has been preserved with most of its original features. Although badly damaged, it was recently{{when|date=May 2024}} converted into an infant school. There are three other synagogues in Herat,{{cite web |title=Muslim trust restores Jewish sites in Afghanistan |url=http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/06/24/muslim-trust-restores-jewish-sites-in-afghanistan/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626084113/http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2009/06/24/muslim-trust-restores-jewish-sites-in-afghanistan/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 26, 2009 |work=Reuters |access-date=2020-08-21}} in a more advanced state of disrepair, two had been converted to schools and one to a mosque.{{cite web |url=http://www.isjm.org/jhr/IInos3-4/afghan.htm |title=Research on Afghan Synagogues |website=International Survey of Jewish Monuments |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010519200841/http://www.isjm.org/jhr/IInos3-4/afghan.htm |archive-date=2001-05-19}} Not far from the synagogue there is still a mikvah formerly called Hamman-e Yahudiha, which was converted into a hammam for Muslim men. There is also a Jewish cemetery that contains around 1,000 graves.

File:Herat Jews Cemetery.jpg

The synagogue was restored in 2009 with funding from Swiss NGO Aga Khan Trust for Culture. Restoration of the interior blue, hand-painted dome by local craftsmen was funded by the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, but all but stopped after the government's fall during the 2021 Taliban offensive.{{cite news |last1=Rosenfeld |first1=Arno |title=As Taliban take charge, uncertain future for Afghanistan's Jewish heritage sites |url=https://forward.com/news/474297/taliban-jewish-heritage-afghanistan-herat/ |access-date=19 July 2023 |work=The Forward |date=2021-08-17}}

However, in October 2022, the Taliban-run Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan announced a 16-month project to prevent the synagogue's structural collapse and to rehabilitate the community's mikveh. Most of the $500,000 cost is being funded by the Aliph Foundation.{{cite news |last1=Jackie |first1=Hajdenberg |title=Taliban approves conservation work on historic Afghan synagogue |url=https://www.jta.org/2022/10/27/global/taliban-approves-conservation-work-on-historic-afghan-synagogue |access-date=19 July 2023 |work=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=2022-10-27}}

The remains of the building on the east, north and south sides of the courtyard are now used as family housing. A room in the basement of the structure on the west side of the courtyard is used for housing by one of the employees of the Herat Department of Historic Monuments Preservation. The remainder of the building is in a precarious condition. Annette Ittig's report does not date the synagogue.{{cite web |url=http://www.isjm.org/country/afgpg/afgphotogal.html |title=International Survey of Jewish Monuments: The Yu Aw synagogue in Herat, Afghanistan |work=International Survey of Jewish Monuments |access-date=2011-08-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110901201020/http://www.isjm.org/country/afgpg/afgphotogal.html |archive-date=2011-09-01 |url-status=dead }}

A preliminary survey carried out by Annette Ittig in 1998 noted that:

{{Cquote|The main prayer hall still has much of its painted stucco decoration, which is primarily floral, with a strong Persianate influence, e.g. the flowering "trees of life" and the butas, or paisley motifs, set to either side of the Torah Ark on the western wall.... The ark is elevated and is reached by stairs. The room itself is octagonal in shape.... On the south side of prayer hall is an arcade with a partition with small decorative openings that served as the women's gallery. The low open bimah, which is placed below the central dome, remains intact.... There are three Hebrew inscriptions on the north wall above the stairway....{{cite web |url=http://www.isjm.org/country/herat.htm

|title=Documentation of Afghanistan Synagogues |access-date=2007-05-29 |last=Ittig |first=Annette |date=April 5, 2005 |work=International Survey of Jewish Monuments}}|}}

{{stack|{{portal|Afghanistan|Judaism}}}}

• History of the Jews in Afghanistan
• List of former synagogues in Afghanistan
• Oldest synagogues in the world

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.isjm.org/country/afgpg/afgphotogal.html International Survey of Jewish Monuments: The Yu Aw synagogue in Herat, Afghanistan]
• [https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/30891282.html The Struggle To Preserve Afghanistan’s Jewish Heritage]

{{Jews and Judaism in Afghanistan}}

Category:Abandoned buildings and structures

Category:Buildings and structures in Herat Province

Category:Former synagogues in Afghanistan