Behind the gates of a large villa in Dubai’s Al Wasl district, there is a thriving community centre supporting the growing Jewish population in the UAE.
Led by Rabbi Levi Duchman, the centre runs on the ethos that all are welcome. His goal is to make people “feel a sense of home” when they walk through the doors.
During a visit by The National, to mark the International Day of Human Fraternity, the centre was full of life as community members prepared for Shabbat, or the Sabbath.
A weekly 25-hour observance, from shortly before sundown each Friday through to sunset on Saturday, Shabbat is a day of rest and abstention from work.
One of our busiest days is a Friday. We tend to host a big dinner in the welcome entrance of the centre and we prepare Shabbat packages for our members
Rabbi Levi Duchman
Many households observe the beginning of Shabbat with a feast, where they start the meal with a blessing over grape juice and bread.
“Our Jewish community really comes from all over world — from America, from Europe and, most recently, from Israel,” said Rabbi Levi.
“One of our busiest days is a Friday. We tend to host a big dinner in the welcome entrance of the centre and we prepare Shabbat packages for our members, which has a loaf of challah bread, candles and grape juice.
“The UAE is a true beacon of tolerance and coexistence, where people come together from different backgrounds, cultures and traditions to learn from one another. We are proud to be part of the greater community within the UAE.”
As the smell of cooking filled the air in the kitchen of the community centre, staff and members of Rabbi Levi’s family stirred pots on the hob, chopped vegetables and prepared dough for the challah.
The feast for Shabbat can vary from week to week, but there are always three dishes consistently present during their Friday Sabbath.
Cholent, which is an overnight stew made with meat, potatoes and beans; challah, which is a bread made from seven ingredients for the seven days of week; and traditional chicken soup, which is often referred to as the Jewish penicillin.
As you walk around the community centre, the door to each room is fitted with a mezuzah, which is a small, rolled parchment inscribed with scriptural verses to remind Jews of their obligations toward God.
Rabbi Levi said it is common to find them in most Jewish homes, especially on the front doors.
Towards the front of the villa is also a small in-house synagogue, which is the Jewish place of worship.
Often used for prayer, it is also used as a place for study and has a small library which holds many religious scripts and books.
How the Jewish community was born in UAE
Founded on the principles of inclusivity and coexistence, Rabbi Levi officially opened the centre in 2020, shortly after the Abraham Accords were signed. However, he has been active in the community for years.
Living in the UAE since 2014, he said it was always his dream to organically grow a strong Jewish community within the Emirates.
“I have seen the Jewish population grow so much, with robust and thriving communities in Abu Dhabi and Dubai,” he said.
“Collectively, we have hundreds of members and that number is expected to increase in the coming years.
“The centre is really the hub of our work and we provide help to people, whether it be looking for work, accommodation or just general support at home.
“We have a strong education programme that helps both children and adults strengthen their Jewish identity too.”
The centre operates under the umbrella of Jewish UAE – an organisation dedicated to serving the thousands of Jews living, working and visiting the UAE.
In September, Rabbi Levi also helped to establish the first Jewish nursery in the country, called Mini Miracles, which runs a British curriculum but incorporates Jewish values.
With the capacity to hold 100 pupils, it currently has 15 children enrolled on the school register.
Jewish community has doubled
The UAE hosts between 350 and 500 Jews who are active within the community, a number which has doubled since the signing of the Abraham Accords.
In addition, about 250,000 Israelis have already visited the Emirates since the document was signed in the summer of 2020.
“We want to continuously promote Jewish knowledge, awareness and practice,” he said.
“Our work is centred around strengthening Jewish identity and affording every Jew the opportunity to experience the joy and vibrancy of his or her Jewish heritage.
“We are so thankful to the leadership of the UAE with this bold vision of tolerance and religious pluralism here and in the Middle East.
“On behalf of the Jewish community, we would like to thank the leadership and bless them to continue to be this true beacon of light, not only to the region but to the entire world.”
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
