History: Celebrate the first Seder night in the Gulf principalities

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The Jewish community in the United Arab Emirates, with the assistance of a representative of the Chabad House in Dubai, held the first Seder meal this evening (Saturday) since the peace agreements between the countries were signed. Seder night was held at the Address Marina Dubai, with the participation of hundreds of community members and their families, Israeli tourists and dozens of other guests – many of them locals.

The historic Seder meal was hosted and moderated by the Chief Rabbi of Chabad in the United Arab Emirates, Rabbi Levi Duchman. The food served was strictly kosher. Prior to the Seder meal, members of the Jewish community and their children participated in a matzah baking ceremony held at the hospitality complex.

In the Principality of Bahrain, members of the Jewish community also celebrated the first Passover since the signing of the Abrahamic Agreements and converted to a first Seder meal openly held in the capital Manama, where the ancient synagogue of the Jewish community in the Little Principality, which has recently been extensively renovated with government funding.

Baking matzah in Dubai // Photo: Courtesy of Beit Hab

Huda Nono, a senior member of the Jewish community in Bahrain who previously served as Bahrain’s ambassador to the United Nations, spoke about the great excitement of members of the small Jewish community in the principality. In Bahrain, too, members of the community and their children chose to receive the traditional Seder meal and Passover in a matzah baking ceremony according to local customs that have been preserved for centuries.

In Morocco, too, members of the Jewish community were excited to receive King Muhammad VI’s blessing for Passover. Andrei Azoulay, one of the King of Morocco’s senior advisers, even announced in a holiday letter to community members that it had been decided to implement in practice the Moroccan Ministry of Education’s recommendation to integrate Christian and Islamic Judaism into the overall curriculum of Moroccan grades one through twelve.

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