Draft:Kabbalah in Kabul

Kabbalah in Kabul
Directed by	Dan Alexe
Produced by	Serge Kestemont
Starring	Zabulon Simantov Yitzchak Levin
Release date	2006
Running time	87 minutes
Country	Belgium
Language	Dari

Kabbalah in Kabul (French: Cabale à Kaboul) is a documentary film that follows two men who appear to be the last remaining Jews in Afghanistan: Zabulon Simantov (Hebrew: זבולון סימן-טוב) and Yitzchak Levin (Hebrew: יצחק לוי).

The title of the film refers to the Jewish practice of Kabbalah, and Kabul, the capital of the country in which it takes place.

Background

Yitzchak Levin is a former shoemaker who now practices folk medicine, such as selling protective amulets that he makes. Levin was originally from Herat and moved to Kabul with his wife and children. 19 years before the film, his family moved to Tel Aviv while he stayed behind to watch over the synagogue.

Zabulon Simantov makes wine, and has also run a carpet shop and a restaurant. He is originally from Herat, as well, and moved to Kabul later in his life. Simantov's wife and daughters eventually relocated to Israel. He briefly tried immigrating to join them but later decided to return to Afghanistan, and subsequently became estranged from his wife.

Levin and Simantov have known each other for many years, but have been constantly bitter towards each other. The Taliban had previously jailed them for their behavior, but as their hostile relationship continued even while incarcerated, they were later expelled from the jail.

Plot

Both Simantov and Levin live in the Kabul synagogue, which has fallen into disrepair after nearly all of its former congregants have fled. Levin, who wears a kippah resembling those worn by Bukharan Jews, walks around the main sanctuary of the synagogue. He shows an empty ark that housed Torah scrolls before they were confiscated by the Taliban, stands on the bimah, and points out the mechitza.

The two men are constantly bickering with each other. Simantov insists that Levin converted to Islam after an encounter with the Taliban, and then converted back. Levin maintains that Simantov is not an authentic Afghan Jew because Simantov briefly lived in Turkmenistan. In addition to casting doubts on each other's identity, the two also blame each other for loss of Jewish property such as their synagogue's Torah schools or gravestones in the synagogue's cemetery. Although Levin denies harboring any resentment towards Simantov, Simantov repeatedly makes disparaging comments to the camera regarding Levin. Both men are then, individually, seen strolling through a market to purchase goods. Levin purchases live chickens, and Simantov purchases seeds and black raisins for his wine. Both men are eventually shown slaughtering a chicken in a Kosher manner.

After the trip to the market, Levin meets with a customer. He offers them some salt, and instructs them to wrap it in paper and burn it in order to ward off malevolent entities. The film earlier shows him declining business to customers when they stop by on a Saturday, as he is Shomer Shabbat.

Levin later announces he has received a letter, revealed to be from his son Baba Jan, living in Israel. In the letter, he explains to his father that people in the Israeli community no longer believe Levin to be a "goy", instead recognizing Levin's intent to remain in Kabul to care for the synagogue. After reading the letter, Levin recollects on his son's attempts to avoid Israeli conscription.

Following this, Levin meets with another set of customers—one of whom laments that he has traveled from Pakistan in order to reach Levin—and gives them the same instructions for burning salt. After his customers leave, Levin complains that these customers refer to him as an unbeliever. Baba Jan suddenly arrives, but requests that he is not filmed. The film momentarily cuts to black, then resumes with Levin describing his encounter with his son.

Presumably some time later, Simantov explains that after Levin's death, his body was flown via the Red Cross to the Israeli Embassy in Tashkent, and then to Israel. This fulfilled his request of being buried in Israel.

Reception

Unifrance, an organization that promotes French cinema, remarked that the hatred between Simantov and Levin is "intense", making the movie far from dull despite the otherwise lonely and isolated existence. Additionally, Filmfest Hamburg labelled the film a "tragicomedy" that explores the lingering pieces of a former society.

One of the film's production companies, Luna Blue, explained that the film demonstrates the relationship between Muslims and Jews from a unique perspective.

Contrastingly, Jacques Mandelbaum of the French newspaper Le Monde wrote that the film worryingly did not show any sympathy for the subjects nor their hostilities towards each other. He criticized the filmmaker for taking a stance of indifference in its portrayal, and for attempting to exploit the pair's relationship.

Dutch media outlet Cinemagazine reported that the film emulates a sad endlessness to the film, with the two subjects' constant bickering and the seeming improbability of the community of Afghan Jews returning. The outlet also remarked that the filmmaker presents a significantly neutral stance between the two subjects, although his presence seems to excite both of them.