 Logo of the Jewish Community Center of UAE | |
| Formation | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Naum Koen [1] |
| Type | Jewish Community |
Region | United Arab Emirates |
| Services | Kosher food, Jewish education, synagogue, and other Jewish communal services |
Rabbi | Levi Duchman |
President | Solly Wolf |
| Website | jewishuae |
The Jewish Community Center of UAE is a Jewish community center in the United Arab Emirates led by Chabad Rabbi Levi Duchman and community president Solly Wolf. [2]
Since the formation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 1971, a small Jewish community grew and lived in the UAE for many years, but was mostly living in the shadows. [3] As improved relations between Israel and the UAE, Jews in the UAE started to openly pray and practice Judaism and established the Jewish Community Center of UAE. [4] [5]
The JCC (Jewish Community Center) of the UAE, is led by Chabad Rabbi Levi Duchman. [6] [7] [8] A Jewish benediction is recited to the president of the UAE Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan as well as to the rest of the rulers of the UAE during Shabbat. [9] [2]
The supply of 1,000 kosher chickens per week is provided to the community by local Kosher Shechita. [8] In May 2020, it was reported that the JCC of UAE has imported the largest meat shipment in the history of the community. [10] [11] [12]
Following the normalization agreement, Duchman opened an upscale kosher restaurant in the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai, serving Mediterranean fare and wine and sporting a "sleek Asian decor". [13]
A new Talmud Torah was reported in 2020 to have been recently established and now has around 40 pupils. [14] [8]
For the Sukkot holiday in October 2020, Duchman erected a public sukkah next to the Burj Khalifa tower in Dubai. [13] [15]
Kashrut is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher, from the Ashkenazi pronunciation of the term that in Sephardi or Modern Hebrew is pronounced kashér, meaning "fit". Food that may not be consumed, however, is deemed treif, also spelled treyf. In case of objects the opposite of kosher is pasúl.
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch, is a dynasty in Hasidic Judaism. Belonging to the Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) branch of Orthodox Judaism, it is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, as well as one of the largest Jewish religious organizations. Unlike most Haredi groups, which are self-segregating, Chabad mainly operates in the wider world and caters to nonobservant Jews.
Kosher foods are foods that conform to the Jewish dietary regulations of kashrut. The laws of kashrut apply to food derived from living creatures and kosher foods are restricted to certain types of mammals, birds and fish meeting specific criteria; the flesh of any animals that do not meet these criteria is forbidden by the dietary laws. Furthermore, kosher mammals and birds must be slaughtered according to a process known as shechita and their blood may never be consumed and must be removed from the meat by a process of salting and soaking in water for the meat to be permissible for use. All plant-based products, including fruits, vegetables, grains, herbs and spices, are intrinsically kosher, although certain produce grown in the Land of Israel is subjected to other requirements, such as tithing, before it may be consumed.
A sukkah or succah is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. It is topped with branches and often well decorated with autumnal, harvest or Judaic themes.
The history of the Jews in Qatar is relatively limited unlike some of the neighboring countries in the Gulf of Persia.
The history of the Jews in the United Arab Emirates describes the historical and modern presence of Jews over the millennia in the Middle East and the recorded meetings with Jewish communities in areas that are today in the geographic territories of the United Arab Emirates.
The history of the Jews in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to Biblical times. The Arabian Peninsula is defined as including the present-day countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen politically and parts of Iraq and Jordan geographically.
Rabbi Shimon Lazaroff is the current Texas Regional Director for Texas Friends of Chabad Lubavitch, Inc. and member of the board and executive committee of Agudas Chasidei Chabad. With the direction of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, he established Chabad Lubavitch in Texas upon his arrival with his family in 1972.
Gavriel Noach Holtzberg (Hebrew: גבריאל נח הולצברג; June 9, 1979 – November 26, 2008 was an Israeli American Orthodox rabbi and the Chabad emissary to Mumbai, India, where he and his wife Rivka ran the Mumbai Chabad House. He was also a religious leader and community builder for the local Jewish Indian community, and led the Friday-night Shabbat services at the Knesset Eliyahoo synagogue. Holtzberg and his wife were murdered during the 2008 Mumbai attacks perpetrated by the Islamic militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Islam is the majority and official religion in the United Arab Emirates, professed by 74.5% of the population as of 2020. 63.3% are Sunni, 6.7% are Shia, while 4.4% follow another branch of Islam. The Al Nahyan and Al Maktoum ruling families adhere to the Maliki school of jurisprudence. Many followers of the Hanbali school are found in Sharjah, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Ajman. Their followers include the Al Qasimi ruling family. The other main religions present in the country include Christianity (12.9%), Hinduism (6.2%), and Buddhism (3.2%). Zoroastrians, Druze, Baha'i, Judaism, and Sikhism are also practiced by some non-nationals. 1.3% of the population is agnostic.
Rabbi Yehuda Sarna is Chief Rabbi of the Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue of the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, UAE. He is also Executive Director of the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at New York University (NYU), Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Administration at the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and University Chaplain at NYU.
The Jewish community of Houston, Texas has grown and thrived since the 1800s. As of 2008, Jews lived in many Houston neighborhoods and Meyerland is the center of the Jewish community in the area.
Rogers Park is an American Hasidic folk rock duo from Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 2011 by childhood friends Yosef Peysin and Mordy Kurtz, the group is named after the Chicago neighborhood where they grew up. Their debut album, The Maggid, was released on January 19, 2016.
NY Koen Group is a multinational holding company involved in diamonds, private aviation, digital technologies, tourism, construction and security with executive offices in Dubai, and operational offices in Ukraine. The corporate office is located on board Queen Elizabeth 2.
Elie Abadie is Senior Rabbi in the Association of Gulf Jewish Communities and Senior Rabbi in Residence of the Jewish Council of the Emirates (JCE). He is the former Director of the Jacob E. Safra Institute of Sephardic Studies at Yeshiva University, with an area of interest on the topics of Sephardic Judaism, history, philosophy, and comparative traditional law. He is a member of the board of the American Sephardi Federation and the World Sephardic Educational Center, and co-president of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries. He is a former member of the Board and an Officer of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), the Treasurer/Vice-president of the New York Board of Rabbis, and co-chair of the Sadat Congressional Gold Medal Committee.
Levi Duchman is the first resident chief rabbi of the United Arab Emirates. He also serves as the head of the Jewish congregation of Abu Dhabi, of the Jewish Community Center of UAE in Dubai, and as a member of the executive board of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States.
Ross Kriel is the president of the community Minyan At The Palm, Jewish community activist and the founder of Kosher Arabia catering
Solly Wolf is a Jewish businessman residing in the UAE. He is the president of the Jewish Community Center of UAE.
The Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue is a synagogue located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The synagogue was officially opened on February 17, 2023, and is named after the 12th century Jewish philosopher Moses Ben Maimon. The synagogue is the first public synagogue in the United Arab Emirates. It is a part of the Abrahamic Family House complex.
On 21 November 2024, Zvi Kogan, an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi residing in the United Arab Emirates, was abducted; he was then killed. He was an envoy of the Orthodox Jewish organization Chabad. On 24 November 2024, a body was found and confirmed to be that of Kogan.
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