Meet the rabbi who made it possible to live a Jewish life in the UAE – Cleveland Jewish News
Posted By admin on October 6, 2022
By Yoni Michanie
Levi Duchman, the chief rabbi of the Jewish community in the United Arab Emirates, celebrated his own wedding on Sept. 14. It happened to be the first Jewish one in Abu Dhabi.
With a guest list of 1,500, including the Egyptian, Moroccan and Chinese ambassadors to the UAE, the wedding simultaneously celebrated the second anniversary of the Abraham Accords signing.
Jews, Muslims and Christians joined together to celebrate the union of Rabbi Duchman and Lea Hadad, both emissaries of the Chabad movement, as well as the fruits of normalization, cooperation and peace.
As the first rabbi in the UAE, Duchman says he has spent the last eight years building up infrastructure to facilitate the viability of Jewish life in the Gulf nation.
The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: How long have you been living in the UAE?
A: I have lived in the United Arab Emirates for approximately eight years. Before the normalization agreements, I was living in Casablanca, Morocco. During my time in Morocco, I had the opportunity to travel to the UAE and host a Passover seder for New York University in Abu Dhabi. Nearly six years before normalization, I moved to the UAE.
Q: From your perspective, how has Jewish life in the UAE changed as a result of the normalization agreements?
A: A lot has changed. If you look at the UAE, it is composed of seven different Emirates that agreed on unification [in 1971-72]. The UAE was always a welcoming place in terms of welcoming all religionsI mean, there are over 200 nationalities living here. Having said that, the Jewish community always received support from the government.
In terms of the relationship with Israel, the government did not have that until the signing of the Abraham Accords. Prior to that, living as a rabbi in the UAE, I always felt very welcomed by the government; they always ensured our community has everything we need. In terms of kosher slaughterhouses, institutions for Jewish education, places of worship, or anything else our community needed, we could always count on the full support of the government.
Now, with the Abraham Accords, a huge door was opened for Israelis and Jews around the world who had never heard of the UAE or its levels of religious tolerance. The growth of the Jewish community meant growth in infrastructure, for example, bigger educational facilities, more kosher restaurants, bringing more rabbis into the country, and building Jewish cemeteries.
Q: How would you describe education about Jews or the knowledge of standard Jewish history in the UAE?
A: Prior to the Abraham Accords, very little education existed about Israel and Jewish history. Now, this has very much changed. For example, Ive been to a few Holocaust remembrance events in the UAE and have seen in attendance members of the government such as the minister of culture. Jewish and Israel education has certainly risen in the UAE as a result of the Abraham Accords. We, for example, run a Jewish nursery school and Talmud Torah in our Mini Miracles Educational Center [in Dubai]. Our Sunday and after-school programs for children going to non-Jewish schools hold extremely high standards of Jewish and Israel education. We were successful in bringing different madrichim and madrichot (youth guides in Hebrew) from both Israel and France to help strengthen our educational programming. As of now, we have 112 children signed up for these programs. We have a beautiful center in Dubai and are currently constructing a second one in Abu Dhabi.
Q: Have more Jews been moving to the UAE since the Abraham Accords were signed?
A: Tremendously. Much of it is coming from Israeli startup companies. Major Israeli companies such as Rapyd (a fintech company) are establishing offices in the UAE. This in turn has led to a surge of Jewish families moving to the country since the normalization agreement. You have companies like Hilton, where top Jewish executives have begun moving to the UAE knowing that the community now has the infrastructure in place to cater to their needs. Our community has grown from a few hundred to several thousand.
Q: What was it like to have your wedding in the UAE?
A: My wedding was in Abu Dhabi; it was the first Jewish wedding in Abu Dhabi. It was quite incredible because we had 1,500, if not more, attendees at our wedding, including ambassadors, UAE government officials, and both colleagues and friends from around the world who came to Abu Dhabi to celebrate a Chassidic wedding. It was absolutely incredible. We had a Chassidic singer, Israeli band and Neshama choir, all coming to Abu Dhabi to celebrate a kosher Jewish wedding.
It was at our wedding, where we saw Chassidim dancing and celebrating with Emiratis, that we truly saw the power of the Abraham Accords. We had the chief rabbis of Iran, Singapore, Nigeria and Turkey attend and dance at the wedding. We had the Chinese, Egyptian, Moroccan and Irish ambassadors to the UAE attend as well. I did not expect all of these guests to attend, and the wedding was beautifully covered by both Arab and Jewish news outlets. I have been the first resident rabbi here in the UAE. After eight years, I was able to see all the meaningful and wonderful relationships we have built in this country, and it was absolutely incredible.
Q: How would the Jewish experience be different in other parts of the Arab world?
A: I think the main difference is that the United Arab Emirates gave us the opportunity to build the Jewish infrastructure needed to further develop the community. Mikvahs, places of worship, kosher restaurants have simply made it easier for Jews to build a life here. Judaism can mean a variety of things to different people. It can mean having a place to eat a kosher meal, to do Kol Nidre or to buy challah in order to do a blessing. What we are here to do as a rabbi for the community is to make sure all Jews in the UAE are catered to. Members of the community are feeling more comfortable because they know they can preserve a Jewish way of life in the UAE. I dont want to name other countries specifically, but many do not have the infrastructure to attract a Jewish community and allow it to flourish. For example, next week there are some NBA gamesI believe the Milwaukee Bucks and Atlanta Hawks. Some members of their ownership are Jewish and they are joining us for Yom Kippur services because they know they can have that here.
Q: Should future normalization agreements depend on Arab states willingness to help rebuild and strengthen Jewish communities within their borders?
A: It is incredibly important to support the building of Jewish infrastructure in the Diaspora; this is exactly what we are doing here in the UAE. Normalization agreements should not be contingent on Arab states agreeing to rebuild and strengthen Jewish communities, but the agreements would be enhanced by such a commitment. For example, many of the Jewish CEOs and executives working for companies in all different types of sectors have willingly moved here because the UAE government has shown a commitment to protect the Jewish community and help it flourish.
Q: What advice would you give to countries in the region seeking to attract and strengthen their Jewish communities?
A: I think its about learning about the basic needs of the community, whether it is education or kosher foods. This can be done by working closely with Jewish leaders on the ground who understand the needs and wants of their own community members. We work continually with the UAE government and have achieved incredible advancements through this close collaboration.
Its about having people on the ground and providing them with the infrastructure needed to live a Jewish life. It is actually easier for me to find kosher food in the middle of Dubai than in central London. Etihad Airways, the national airline company of the UAE, has its own kosher kitchen.
The government is currently building the Abrahamic Family House, which consists of a mosque, church, synagogue and educational center to be built on Saadiyat Island, the cultural heart of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. For our wedding, we didnt have to import kosher food, everything was done locally. The work cannot be done remotely; we need to be on the ground and infrastructure is key.
The post Meet the rabbi who made it possible to live a Jewish life in the UAE appeared first on JNS.org.
Original post:
Meet the rabbi who made it possible to live a Jewish life in the UAE - Cleveland Jewish News
- Iranian Diplomat: The Jews Have a Plot to Lay Claim to the British Royal Familys Wealth - Middle East Media Research Institute - October 6th, 2022
- Remarks by President Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff at a Reception to Celebrate the Jewish New Year - The White... - October 6th, 2022
- 'Jerusalem of Lithuania' remains witness to the horrors of the Nazi genocide and their willing collaborators - Cleveland Jewish News - October 6th, 2022
- A Daf Yomi Scout: Literary Critic Adam Kirsch Shares Insights from His Seven-Year Study of the Talmud with YU Students - Yu News - September 29th, 2022
- Book Review | Studying Talmud with Beruriah - Moment Magazine - September 29th, 2022
- Why Bats Sleep Upside Down and The Secret of Yom Kippur - aish.com - Aish.com - September 29th, 2022
- 5 things to know about Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year - WDJT - September 29th, 2022
- New chapter in 'lost Jewish library mystery' as books returned to Lublin - The First News - September 29th, 2022
- Allegiance To The Monarch - aish.com - Aish.com - September 29th, 2022
- Embracing a Spiritual Discipline of Reparations - Word and Way - September 29th, 2022
- Hidden Meaning in the Talmud's Cures and Fables - aish.com - Aish.com - September 18th, 2022
- Everyone's Buddy - aish.com - Aish.com - September 18th, 2022
- I Never Wanted to Get in the Pool. My Daughter (and the Talmud) Changed That. - Kveller.com - September 18th, 2022
- Abortion and Jewish law - JNS.org - JNS.org - September 18th, 2022
- Jim Crawford is loving Tallaght atmosphere as his side set to face Israel in crunch Euro 2023 play-off... - The Irish Sun - September 18th, 2022
- Becoming Elijah: Prophet of transformation by Daniel C. Matt - Church Times - September 18th, 2022
- Rome, Babylon, and 1 Peter 5:13 Revisited | Nicholas Gulda - Patheos - September 18th, 2022
- Bnot Brak the ultra-Orthodox answer to Real Housewives - Australian Jewish News - September 13th, 2022
- What happens when a heretic and a rabbi walk into a bar? - Jewish Herald-Voice - September 9th, 2022
- Gorbachev was different he had a heart - The Jewish Standard - September 9th, 2022
- Being On The Team - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - September 9th, 2022
- West Temples Rabbi Lader to retire in June 2023 - Cleveland Jewish News - September 9th, 2022
- From Peru to Israel: the Long Journey of the Inca Jews - aldianews.com - September 9th, 2022
- We have faced Amaleks like Putin forever, but with morality we can prevail J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - September 9th, 2022
- Upcoming holidays and events in 2022 - NEWS10 ABC - September 9th, 2022
- The angels who saved my husband's life | Shira Pasternak Be'eri | The Blogs - The Times of Israel - September 9th, 2022
- 'Quiet quitting,' the sudden trend in work, sounds sort of Jewish? (Hear me out.) - Jewish News of Greater Phoenix - September 9th, 2022
- The Choice: A Novel of Love, Faith, and the Talmud - reviewed by Rabbi Jeffrey Cohen J-Wire - J-Wire Jewish Australian News Service - August 30th, 2022
- What If It Were 'Zalman'? - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 30th, 2022
- Q & A: The Mantle Of Leadership (Part II) - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 30th, 2022
- It is Caught with Two Hands Torah.org - Torah.org - August 30th, 2022
- Anger, Procrastination, and Elul - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 30th, 2022
- You say you want a revolution? Try the Bible - Religion News Service - August 30th, 2022
- When was the Old Testament Written? - The Gospel Coalition - August 30th, 2022
- Straus Center Fall 2022 Courses: The Wisdom of Solomon, Rembrandt and AI - Yu News - August 30th, 2022
- Maimonides on the Liberty of the People - Brownstone Institute - August 30th, 2022
- Asking the Clergy: Your faith and recreational marijuana - Newsday - August 30th, 2022
- The Evening Shema: The Perfect Place to Begin - Chabad Lubavitch World Headquarters - Lubavitch.com - August 13th, 2022
- 'You don't want to take my money, do you?': Mandarin-speaking rabbi fights antisemitism on Chinas TikTok - Yahoo News - August 13th, 2022
- Tisha B'Av: The Arch of Titus an alternative view - The Times of Israel - August 13th, 2022
- At Oakland's 'Base,' rabbinic couple wants you to make connections J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - August 13th, 2022
- Chazanut and music: tradition and today - Australian Jewish News - August 13th, 2022
- VA'ETCHANAN: In this week's Torah portion, a command to love J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - August 13th, 2022
- Don't Believe in Other Gods Versus God is One - aish.com Ancient Wisdom & Modern Psychology - Aish.com - August 10th, 2022
- Discerning Between Darkness and Light - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - August 10th, 2022
- Activist-writer Elana Dykewomon dies, just as her first play debuts J. - The Jewish News of Northern California - August 10th, 2022
- Reading the Book of Psalms in the Twenty-First Century - Jewish Journal - August 10th, 2022
- Tuesdays primaries offered a glint of hope for Democrats this fall - The Guardian - August 10th, 2022
- Talmud - Jewish Virtual Library - August 1st, 2022
- STAND UP AND SPEAK OUT! - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - July 31st, 2022
- War News And Gefilte Fish - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - July 31st, 2022
- Blinded by Hate | Michael Laitman | The Blogs - The Times of Israel - July 31st, 2022
- Making sense of the sedra: Matot-Masei - Jewish News - July 31st, 2022
- At least 9 cities in the Twin Cities metro targeted with antisemitic, racist flyers - Bring Me The News - July 28th, 2022
- The God Squad: From the mailbag | Opinion | pressrepublican.com - Plattsburgh Press Republican - July 28th, 2022
- Free Online Bible Library | Talmud - BiblicalTraining.org - July 27th, 2022
- Rebuilding Together - Jewish Journal - July 27th, 2022
- Twenty years after Ben and Marla and the Hebrew University bombing - The Times of Israel - July 27th, 2022
- Woven together: Lessons from bringing Israeli rabbis to the U.S. - eJewish Philanthropy - July 27th, 2022
- The God Squad: From the mailbag | Opinion Columns | union-bulletin.com - Walla Walla Union-Bulletin - July 27th, 2022
- Respect Yourself - Respect Others - aish.com The Color of Heaven - Aish.com - July 27th, 2022
- Abortion is a Jewish right and a rabbi says hers was a blessing - Business Insider - July 27th, 2022
- The Flood and Canaan: God's Patience Revealed - Patheos - July 27th, 2022
- Pinchas and the broken vav | The Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle - thejewishchronicle.net - July 27th, 2022
- PJ Library Focuses on Widening its Reach - Publishers Weekly - July 27th, 2022
- The Three Weeks And A Message Of Peace - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - July 27th, 2022
- Jewish people have a different set of priorities - The Jewish Star - July 14th, 2022
- With Biden in Israel, we must spread the blanket of peace far and wide - JNS.org - July 14th, 2022
- Shaming women who have abortions is not a Jewish ethic - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - July 14th, 2022
- Rabbi, get thy head out of their tents - The Times of Israel - July 14th, 2022
- Advocating for respect and unity - The Jewish Standard - July 14th, 2022
- Politics and the Parah Adumah - Jewish Journal - July 10th, 2022
- Mass prep 3 points/30 seconds: What was the Samaritans mercy? Understanding the Greek - Aleteia - July 10th, 2022
- Don't Use Judaism as a Weapon in the Abortion Debate - Jewish Exponent - July 10th, 2022
- Why Being Firstborn is a Blessing and a Curse - aish.com Spiritual Odysseys, Featured, Spirituality - Aish.com - July 10th, 2022
- David Halivni's Great Light | David Novak - First Things - July 8th, 2022
- What Happened to the Truth? - aish.com Personal Growth, Featured, Spirituality - Aish.com - July 8th, 2022
- Q & A: Offering Tefillin To Passersby (Part VII) - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - July 8th, 2022
- The 8 Genders of the Talmud - Jewish Telegraphic Agency - July 4th, 2022
- Is It Proper To Go On Vacation To A Place With No Minyan? - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com - July 4th, 2022
Comments