Hassidic Jews linked arms with Emirati glitterati in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday night, to dance at the wedding of the Gulf nation’s chief rabbi in what was the largest ever Jewish event in the Arabian Gulf, exactly two years after the Trump-brokered Abraham Accords were signed.
The lavish wedding between Rabbi Levi Duchman and Lea Hadad was attended by about 1,500 people, including dignitaries and Emirati royals as well as rabbis from all around the world.
On September 15, 2020, the Abraham Accords normalizing ties between Israel, the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco were signed in Washington.
But the date not only marked the second anniversary of the accords, it also coincided with the Hebrew birth date of the Baal Shemtov in the seventeenth century, the founder of the Hassidic movement, as well as the birthday of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, a century later.
Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Duchman, 29, has been living in the UAE since 2014, and serves as chief rabbi for its Jewish community – the Arab world’s fastest growing.
Hadad, 27, is of Jewish Moroccan descent and the daughter of Belgian Chief Rabbi Menachem Hadad.
The wedding “is a source of great national pride, as a demonstration and living experience of the Emirates’ longstanding investment in creating a culture of coexistence and religious diversity,” the Chabad movement said about the event.
Duchman has been involved in all aspects of Jewish life across the Emirates — building synagogues, Jewish schools, and ritual baths, and establishing a Kosher certification authority.
Photo: file