Sisters open Bahrain's first Jewish gift shop in honour of their late mother


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When Heidi Nonoo came to Bahrain 31 years ago, the capital was very different to the multicultural, bustling city it is today.

Then, a gift shop displaying Jewish wares would have been unthinkable. But now, Ms Nonoo runs Lily B of LP, the country's first Jewish gift shop.

"I never dreamt that there would be Hebrew writing on the wall [in Bahrain]," she says.

The shop is named after her mother, Lily, and sells locally-made items like challah bread covers used on shabbat and kippahs traditionally worn by Jewish men, with Hebrew, Arabic and English writing. Lily died in 2019.

"We opened this shop in her memory. It was my way to cope with the grief because I was very distraught," Ms Nonoo says.

Her husband, Ebrahim Nonoo, is the leader of the country's Jewish community. He helped to renovate the abandoned synagogue near Ms Nonoo's shop.

"This is the first Judaica shop in the Gulf, and in Bahrain, certainly. It's the first time we printed Hebrew writing in Bahrain, thanks to the Abraham Accords."

The only Judaica shop in the Gulf in Bahrain opens to the public. Photo: Aamer Mohammed / The National
The only Judaica shop in the Gulf in Bahrain opens to the public. Photo: Aamer Mohammed / The National

Signed in 2020, the Abraham Accords established ties between the UAE and Bahrain and Israel.

Last week, Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz paid a visit to Bahrain by an Israeli defence chief where he signed a security co-operation deal.

The reaction to the shop has been overwhelmingly positive.

"We have had such a great reaction to the store. We've had a lot of visitors and the local community were very supportive," Ms Nonoo's sister Yael says.

This is one of the reasons why they chose to keep the products they sell made locally.

"This country has been very accommodating and welcoming to the Jewish community. So it’s a nice celebration to be able to give back to the local community by supporting artisans and craftsmen," Yael said.

Next door, the House of Ten Commandments Synagogue was the centre of the Jewish quarter in Bahrain in 1947.

The only Judaica shop in the Gulf in Bahrain opens to the public. Photo: Aamer Mohammed / The National
The only Judaica shop in the Gulf in Bahrain opens to the public. Photo: Aamer Mohammed / The National

It was re-opened last year, after receiving a $159,000 make-over.

In the true spirit of co-existence, both sisters say they are happy to see people from all faiths supporting their shop, and coming to the synagogue for worship.

"Lots of people are coming to visit and local people from the community who are not actually Jewish like to come to the synagogue to pray," Yael says.

"Everything that we sell here is hopefully going to help other people," Heidi says.

The National photo project

Chris Whiteoak, a photographer at The National, spent months taking some of Jacqui Allan's props around the UAE, positioning them perfectly in front of some of the country's most recognisable landmarks. He placed a pirate on Kite Beach, in front of the Burj Al Arab, the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland at the Burj Khalifa, and brought one of Allan's snails (Freddie, which represents her grandfather) to the Dubai Frame. In Abu Dhabi, a dinosaur went to Al Ain's Jebel Hafeet. And a flamingo was taken all the way to the Hatta Mountains. This special project suitably brings to life the quirky nature of Allan's prop shop (and Allan herself!).

Gender pay parity on track in the UAE

The UAE has a good record on gender pay parity, according to Mercer's Total Remuneration Study.

"In some of the lower levels of jobs women tend to be paid more than men, primarily because men are employed in blue collar jobs and women tend to be employed in white collar jobs which pay better," said Ted Raffoul, career products leader, Mena at Mercer. "I am yet to see a company in the UAE – particularly when you are looking at a blue chip multinationals or some of the bigger local companies – that actively discriminates when it comes to gender on pay."

Mr Raffoul said most gender issues are actually due to the cultural class, as the population is dominated by Asian and Arab cultures where men are generally expected to work and earn whereas women are meant to start a family.

"For that reason, we see a different gender gap. There are less women in senior roles because women tend to focus less on this but that’s not due to any companies having a policy penalising women for any reasons – it’s a cultural thing," he said.

As a result, Mr Raffoul said many companies in the UAE are coming up with benefit package programmes to help working mothers and the career development of women in general. 

Updated: February 08, 2022, 4:15 PM