Outside a cafe on Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah reads a sign: “It is Passover, and we are going Matzah crazy.”
Today, in the UAE, a small but thriving Jewish community is gearing up to celebrate the eight-day festival that starts on Wednesday.
Following the 2020 signing of the Abraham Accords, the historic agreement that established relations between the UAE, Bahrain and Israel, and later Morocco, many Jews have chosen to call the UAE home and start businesses.
Today, you can find an official synagogue, a Jewish nursery, kosher supermarkets and a community centre in the Emirates.
Thousands of Jews are expected to travel to the UAE to celebrate Passover — the holiday that celebrates the Biblical story of the Israelites' escape from slavery in Egypt. They feel safe wearing the yarmulke and the community has become part of the UAE’s ethnic mosaic.
“Celebrating Passover in Dubai is always very powerful and has a kind of added relevance to it because it is a festival of spiritual freedom,” said Ross Kriel, one of the founders of the Jewish community in the UAE.
“For us, to be able to celebrate that festival in Dubai as Jews in a flourishing community that is embraced by the leadership of the UAE and the people of UAE is very, very beautiful and profound for us.”
Mr Kriel moved to the UAE about a decade ago from South Africa and, during his time here, he has seen the community grow.
No official data is available but he puts current numbers in the thousands.
“In the past five years, I would say the community has tripled in size. That’s a fair guess to make," he said.
“The accords gave … an assurance this is a good place for Jews to live as much as any other ethnicity. The confidence and optimism of Jewish community in Dubai and Abu Dhabi is very high,” said Mr Kriel.
The principal ceremony that takes place on the first night of Passover is known as a “seder”, which is Hebrew for "order". It involves a retelling of the story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt along with a festive meal, including Matzah — an unleavened flatbread that is an integral part of Jewish cuisine.
Before it was largely a private affair in the UAE but this year several large seders – some involving hundreds of people – are being held around the country.
They are drawing not just residents but an increasing number of tourists from Israel, the US and other parts of the Jewish world who are coming to the UAE to celebrate Passover.
Services are being held in multiple languages, such as Hebrew, English, French, and Russian, and some hotels are providing kosher food, tours, spiritual instruction and guest speakers to help visitors understand the UAE and the history of the community here.
While the Passover week in Israel has been hit by tensions, it is thought that between 5,000 and 10,000 could travel to the UAE this year for Passover, according to members of the community, attracted by the weather, interest in the Gulf and personal safety.
“Passover celebrates miracles. Jews that come to the UAE have a strong sense of this being a place of miracles,” said Mr Kriel.
“The fact they can be here, visibly showing Jewish identity and celebrating Jewish festivals with a sense of being welcomed and embraced is very much a miracle and a source of enormous hopefulness and optimism.”
No matter how large or small the gathering, every seder has important elements, and involves traditional food, prayer and songs.
For example, the bitter herbs Jews taste at the start remind them of the suffering of its people in Egypt.
“The evening is full of symbolic foods and practices that evoke slavery and redemption from slavery,” said Mr Kriel.
Vibrancy in community
The growing Jewish population ranges from liberal to orthodox and the vibrancy of the community can be seen everywhere, not least in the amount of times UAE-based Rabbi Levi Duchman’s phone rings.
“It is the busiest time of the year for me,” he said, with a chuckle. “The phone is ringing all day.”
People are asking him every question under the sun — from how to store matzah to how to make sure the oven is kosher.
“But people are very excited. It is during Ramadan … and coincides with Easter. It is a very nice month.”
This is his ninth year celebrating Passover in the UAE. In the early years, Rabbi Duchman used to bring kosher products to the country in a suitcase.
“But now I don’t have to fill a suitcase,” he said. “It is all available locally and this is something we built with the UAE government.”
Business going well
Dubai's Rimon Market, a kosher supermarket in Al Safa, opened just three months ago.
Kosher food is food permitted for Jews to eat such as land animals with (split) hooves that chew the cud. Rimon sells meat and matzah, along with other goods such as tealights and kippahs. Goods with Hebrew lettering line the shelves.
On Tuesday, a few people visited to pick up some last-minute supplies.
“Business is going very, very well,” said Shlomo Habib, the shop’s food and beverage manager. “I’m so happy to be in this country to develop this.”
The country’s first formal synagogue opened in Abu Dhabi in March as part of the Abrahamic Family House.
The Moses Ben Maimon Synagogue on Saadiyat Island will host its first Passover this year in what will be the first time in UAE history that a purpose-built synagogue hosts such an event.
In Dubai, these services have taken place for years in villas and other locations but now they mainly take place in hotels. Every day during Passover, it is important for Jews to go to the synagogue and read from the Torah.
Mr Kriel said the hope is to eventually have a purpose-built synagogue in Dubai.
“Ten years ago the Jewish community was just beginning,” said Mr Kriel. "We always felt embraced … but it was a very early time for us and very few people in the world knew about our community.
“Now we share the wonder of the UAE with thousands of Jews from around the world.”
