The Yu Aw Synagogue stands in the Momanda neighbourhood of Herat's old city — a reminder that Herat once had a significant and prosperous Jewish community. The community's origins in the city go back at least to the medieval period; by the 19th century there were several hundred Jewish families involved in trade and finance. Almost all left for Israel in the 1950s and 1960s; the last Jewish resident of Herat departed in 2021.
The synagogue building itself is abandoned and in poor condition, but survives. Its Hebrew inscriptions and distinctive architecture set it apart from the surrounding buildings. It is one of very few synagogues that still exist — in any state — in Afghanistan, and a tangible trace of the multi-religious world that Herat was for centuries before the conflicts of the 20th century ended it.