Kurdistan Jewish community celebrates holiday in Prophet Nahum's grave in Elkosh • The tomb recently undergoes renovations and is one of the only active Jewish sites in Iraq

• Rage Cohen lights menorah at Prophet Nahum's tomb in Iraq // Photo: AFP

The small town of Elkosh is located 40 cm north of Mosul. Five years ago, the front line of the war against the ISIS terrorist organization was only ten kilometers from the settlement, which is home to most of its inhabitants.

But since ISIS, the landscape has disappeared and new and ancient voices are once again being heard in the compound of the tomb of Prophet Nahum, one of the few Jewish sites active in Iraq.

Yesterday several dozen participants, most of them members of the small Jewish community of Iraqi Kurdistan, held autonomy in the town of Elkosh, an exciting inauguration ceremony in the recently renovated tomb complex.

Ranger Cohen, a Jew living in Kurdish autonomy, told the local television network "Kurdistan 24" that: "We began the tradition of lighting the eighth candle of Chanukah in the tomb of Prophet Nahum."

Mayn Freidon, another resident of the autonomous region, told the television network: "It is a great privilege for us, Kurdistan Jews, to return to worship in our holy places. The only safe place for the holy sites remains.