Leading the prayers was a fleshy electrician named Boris Muratov, speaking in a mixture of Bukharan and halting Hebrew. About 15 men, most of them over 50, take part.
Women sit in an adjoining room, listening to the service through a thin wood wall.
Muratov took over as leader of the congregation when the previous rabbi left. Soon he, too, plans to depart for Israel. There are no other rabbis. Samarkand is not an isolated case. All over Central Asia, Jews continue to emigrate in large numbers.