As Thousands Of Israeli Tourists Visit Dubai, A Small Jewish Community Gets A Boost

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Rabbi Levi Duchman lights a menorah during Hanukkah at a private residence in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in December.

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An Israeli family lights menorahs during a Hanukkah celebration at the Conrad Hotel in Dubai on Dec. 16.

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Days later, the rabbi broke ground on the UAE’s first mikvah, a Jewish ritual bath. Meanwhile, his brother, a butcher and kosher food supervisor at a year-old, high-end kosher restaurant in central Dubai, had to fly in another kosher butcher from Israel to help meet demand of a couple thousand chickens a week for the restaurant and the community’s visitors.

«There’s so much going on,» said Mendel Duchman, the butcher. «It’s too much for one man to handle.»

At least 40,000 Israelis have traveled to Dubai this month, according to the Israeli airport authority. Fifteen daily, 3 1/2-hour nonstop flights from Tel Aviv to Dubai began this month on three Israeli airlines and an Emirati carrier.

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An Israeli tourist purchases souvenirs in the grand souq in Dubai in December.

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Among those making the trip are Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish tourists, carrying their own Torah scrolls and kosher steaks, flying east over Saudi Arabia to a land they never expected to visit.

Duchman estimates a few thousand Jewish expatriates are living in the UAE, though some suggest the numbers may be lower. They are mainly from English-speaking countries and Europe, working largely in finance or energy. The community maintains a low profile, given sensitivities about Jews and Israel in the region. For years, some have organized prayers in a Dubai villa, unmarked for their safety but with the tacit approval of local authorities.

Since the Israel-UAE peace deal was announced in August, the Jewish community has burst out of the shadows, scrambling to accommodate the rush of devout Jewish visitors. But the community is still not officially registered as a religious group with the UAE, and there are tensions over who claims the title of head rabbi.

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A Jewish man walks past portraits of UAE royalty in the Jewish Community Center in Dubai in December.

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In October, the Jewish Council of the Emirates, which calls itself the official representative body of the UAE’s Jewish community, appointed Elie Abadie, a Beirut-born rabbi from New York, as head rabbi. The group hopes to receive official UAE licensing next month.

Duchman, a member of the Chabad Jewish outreach movement, also calls himself the rabbi of the UAE. He began a separate group, the Jewish Community Center of UAE, which operates its own Dubai villa for prayers and religious events.

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Jews light candles during Hanukkah at the Jewish Community Center in Dubai in December.

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An Israeli ultra-Orthodox singer, Ruli Dikman, entertains Israeli tourists during a Hanukkah celebration at the Conrad Hotel in Dubai on Dec. 16.

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A menorah stands on display at the base of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, in Dubai.

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An Israeli tourist dressed in a traditional Emirati kandora walks through the gold souq in Dubai in December.

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Jewish men pray during Hanukkah at the Jewish Community Center in Dubai on Dec. 17.

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A lit menorah during a Hanukkah celebration at the Conrad Hotel in Dubai on Dec. 16.

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A lit menorah during a Hanukkah celebration at the Conrad Hotel in Dubai on Dec. 16.

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Jewish visitors to the UAE recall lighting Hanukkah candles behind drawn curtains in their hotel rooms in years past. This year, for the first time, Rabbi Duchman’s group held several nights of Hanukkah concerts and candle lightings with an enormous menorah at the foot of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, as Hebrew songs echoed throughout the center of the city.

For COVID-19 safety, authorities eventually put an end to those parties. But Suri Fulda, an Orthodox Jew from Israel, was moved by the holiday celebration.

«They lit the candles the first night of Hanukkah. It was a miracle. The Muslim world is accepting us, and I thought it was something to be very, very proud of as a Jew,» Fulda said.

She admitted Dubai is like a «cruise ship on land,» filled with foreigners. She barely met any Emiratis. But she hopes to visit other countries making peace with Israel. Bahrain — which signed a peace deal with Israel on the same day the UAE did — is on her bucket list.

• united arab emirates
• Orthodox Judaism
• Dubai