In Dushanbe, Tajikistan, one by one, Jewish worshippers unfurl their white-and-blue prayer shawls and utter a quick blessing to begin one of the last Sabbath services in the only remaining synagogue in this former Soviet republic.
The government has ordered the Jews out of the Dushanbe synagogue by the end of July so it can be demolished with the surrounding neighborhood. The plain, white building where Jews say they have worshipped for more than a century is to be replaced by a “Palace of Nations” complex that will serve as Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov’s office.
Only synagogue in Tajikistan targeted for demolition to make way for presidential palace