A young Haredi man who wanted to travel to the dangerous Taliban-controlled country stayed in a hotel in Afghanistan located opposite the Iranian embassy, where at one point his identity was almost discovered. The mobile phone in Hebrew and the tefillin he brought with him nearly led to the exposure of his identity.
Benny Waksler, the owner of a travel company, has already visited about 100 countries around the world - including intriguing or dangerous countries like Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and more.
Recently, the young Haredi man decided to visit Kabul as well - Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, and shared what he went through: "It was the scariest and most challenging trip I've ever taken in my life. Being at the mercy of the Taliban without minimal protection is not sleeping for a few weeks before the trip," said Vaksler.
He described the great difficulty in obtaining the coveted visa to Afghanistan: "It took us a very long time and a lot of protection and connections, the great fear of entering the country with the meticulous checks, passing through dozens of Taliban checkpoints, who repeatedly check us, and the great concern that they would discover we are Jews with tefillin and other products in Hebrew," Vaksler described the fear he felt.
So that the tefillin wouldn't be caught, my son said he put them in a regular bag with Arabic writing that he brought from Dubai, and he planned to say, if asked, that he bought it in a souvenir shop in Dubai that sells antiques from around the world. He was also worried about the mobile phone in Hebrew. The ban on photography mainly applies to Taliban members, but even ordinary passersby are not allowed - and the penalties for this are severe.
Benny recounted that the hotel they stayed in was located right across from the Iranian embassy and looked like low-quality guest rooms, without air conditioning, non-functioning showers, and insects in every corner. "In the hotel room, we thought we wouldn't be heard and spoke Hebrew, but the hotel owner overheard us and started to suspect and interrogate us. Thank God, after some effort, we managed to get him off our backs. They advised us to dress like the locals to avoid standing out and blend in with the public," described the young Haredi.
"We had to ask for permission from the Taliban to travel in Kabul, it was a complicated procedure, a meeting with various Taliban officials, until we finally got the approval from the Taliban leaders themselves, who treated and respected us and even offered us tea and cookies," all this, of course, while they were unaware that the young man was Israeli.
