Zina Abraham was born in an Uzbeki prison in 1933. It was a tumultuous time in Jewish history. Soviet Union annexed the territories of what is now Uzbekistan and the Stalinist regime had led to widespread discrimination against the Jews. Ultimately released from prison and strapped to her mother’s chest, Zina and her mother, traveled by horseback undetected to Afghanistan. But as a woman in Afghanistan, she was still essentially in prison, concealed from the outside world with no access to education or medical care.

Abraham’s story takes us on sweeps and swirls through Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Her quest toward religious freedom and education transports us to India, to Israel, and then finally the United States. Central to each chapter of her life is a story of survival and a deep faith and commitment to build and nurture a Jewish life for herself and her community.

Caravan of Hope tells the story of a Central Asian Jewish woman hailing from Bukhara, striving to reach the shores of a country that offered religious, financial and educational freedom. It recounts the experiences of many Bukharian Jews who were mainly uneducated and persecuted, with no time or wherewithal to chronicle their lives. This is one woman’s journey.

About the author

Dahlia Abraham-Klein is a writer on Central Asian Jewish history and Jewish values. Her articles have appeared on Tablet, Chabad, Jewish Journal, and The Times of Israel. She is a teacher at Partners in Torah offering a personalized learning experience on the system of life through Jewish wisdom.
Her forthcoming book titled, The Stateless Central Asian Merchant: The Life of Haim Aghajan Abraham Based on his Journal 1897–1987
The Stateless Central Asian Merchant is the fascinating life story of a Persian Speaking Jew (Dahlia Abraham’s grandfather) who was born in 1897 in Marv (today’s Turkmenistan) in Russian Turkestan, relocated to Afghanistan in the mid-1930s, and to Japan in the 1960s, and passed away in New York in 1997. Haim Abraham’s memories, which he wrote down into several small notebooks at the end of his long life, have only reached us through fortunate circumstances.
Haim Abraham’s journal is a unique document that gives us an insight into the hitherto little-known history, culture, and everyday life of the Jews of Central Asia and Afghanistan. It allows us a more nuanced understanding of Jewish life and pluralism in modern Afghan and Central Asian history. This journal contributes to a better understanding of the complexities and ambiguities of Central Asian Jews past and demonstrate how mobile, diverse, and interconnected their Jewish communities and culture were.