Israel’s Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef visited UAE, to inaugurate Jewish school on Saturday, it is the first-ever visit by a sitting chief rabbi to an Arab country.
The rabbi’s office asserted that he went to the UAE on Thursday, in a sign of boosting ties between the Emirates and Israel.
“During his visit, he will meet with senior Emirati officials, inaugurate the newly certified Jewish [nursery] school, and, in a special ceremony, invest Rabbi Levi Duchman as rabbi of the Emirati Jewish community,” according to a statement from Dubai’s Jewish Community Center.
During his stay, which will last until Sunday, Yosef was scheduled to visit the Beit Tefillah Synagogue in Dubai, dedicate another synagogue, inaugurate the nursery school, break ground on a mikveh, tour a newly opened kosher restaurant in the Burj Khalifa building and inspect a local kosher poultry slaughterhouse, according to the JCC.
“The visit of the Chief Rabbi is as historic as it is a great honor for us to host him here in the Emirates,” Duchman, rabbi of the JCC said. “We are excited to welcome him as we dedicate and break ground on several of our new institutions, which are being constructed with the swiftness and efficiency for which the UAE has become world-famous.”
“This historic visit epitomizes the historic achievements of the past months. With gratitude to Crown Prince, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, we are now able to celebrate a new era of cooperation in the region,” community spokesperson Daniel Seal stated. “We are setting out to ensure that Jews who come to work or visit in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and across the Emirates, will have access to Jewish institutions and services.”
The JCC considered this “new era of cooperation” to the recently signed Abraham Accords, which normalized ties between Israel and the UAE, as well as Bahrain.
“This is just the beginning of the potential for tourism and cooperation between Israel and the Emirates,” Solly Wolf , president of the Jewish Community Center in Dubai, mentioned. “The visit of the Chief Rabbi, I hope, will go a long way to cementing the good faith and warm friendships between the Jewish and Muslim peoples of the region.”
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