Chief Sephardi Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef visited Dubai on Thursday for the first time ever with a leading rabbi sitting to an Arab country, his office said, as a sign of deeper ties between the Emirates and Israel.
“During his visit, he will meet with senior Emirati officials, establishing the newly established Jew [nursery] school, and, at a special reception, Rabbi Levi Duchman was invested as a rabbi of the Emirati Jewish community, ”according to a statement from the Dubai Jewish Community Center.
Yosef was scheduled to stay in the United Arab Emirates until Sunday. During his stay, he will be considered a guest of honor for the Dubai Jewish Community Center.
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“The Chief Rabbi’s visit is so historic because it is a great honor to host him here in the Emirates,” said Duchman, JCC rabbi. “We are delighted to welcome him and we ‘dedicating and breaking down a number of our new centers, which are being built with the speed and efficiency with which the UAE has become world-renowned. ”
Duchman, a young rabbi from the Lubavitch Cab movement, is accused of assaulting the “hostile takeover” of the Jewish community in Dubai, which has been meeting – silently – for more than a decade. A spokesman for the JCC told The Times of Israel that Yosef’s visit and his investment of Duchman were not intended to disparage, diminish or address the legitimacy of any other Jewish community in the UAE.
Sephardi Israeli Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef will speak at an English Party election rally at the Yazdim synagogue in Jerusalem on February 29, 2020. (Olivier Fitoussi / Flash90)
During the trip, Yosef planned to visit Beit Tefillah Synagogue in Dubai, dedicate another synagogue, consecrate the nursery, break mikveh, visit a reopened kosher restaurant in the Burj Khalifa building and explore its a local kosher poultry slaughterhouse, according to the JCC.
“This historic journey is an example of the historic achievement of recent months. Thanks to The Crown Prince, His Majesty Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, we are now able to mark a new era of co-operation in the area, and we are trying to ensure that they come to work or visit. in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and throughout the Emirates will have access to Jewish centers and services, ”said community spokesman Daniel Seal.
The JCC gave this “new era of cooperation” to the recently signed Abraham Accords, which would make normal relations between Israel and the UAE, as well as Bahrain. Similar agreements are expected to be signed with Sudan and Morocco soon, after plans were announced to normalize relations.
After signing the boxes, thousands of Israelis have arrived in the UAE.
“This is just the beginning of the potential for tourism and co-operation between Israel and the Emirates. “The visit of the Chief Rabbi, I hope, will go a long way in consolidating the goodwill and warm relations between the Jews and the Muslims in the area,” the president of the Jewish Community Center said in Dubai, Solly Wolf.
Raphael Ahren contributed to this report.