The Gulf region’s first and only Jewish nursery has recorded a large increase in the number of pupil enrolments in less than two years.
Mini Miracles, nestled in Dubai's Jumeirah residential neighbourhood, has grown from one pupil to 45 since opening last year.
Levi Duchman, the first resident chief rabbi in the UAE, said they hoped to have about 200 pupils enrolled by the end of this year.
A new Jewish educational campus will also be established on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi early next year.
We have people moving here from all over Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Australia, Israel, so it's a very diverse community
Levi Duchman, chief rabbi
“We're just about to break ground and are building the newest educational centre very soon in Abu Dhabi,” he said.
“I could definitely say the number one reason that enables Jewish families to move to the UAE, besides business opportunities, is the fact they are guaranteed a Jewish education.”
Mini Miracles in Dubai was founded and built by Alec and Sonia Sellem, Jewish residents of the UAE, right after the Abraham Accords were signed in 2020.
The aim was to provide a British curriculum campus that incorporated Jewish values.
Since then, Ms Sellem said more Jewish families have moved to the UAE, with one of the factors drawing them in being access to religious education.
The small campus, which has a strong focus on charity and kindness, also hosts a Sunday school which is attended by a little more than 100 pupils aged between 2 and 12, where children are taught Jewish history, culture and Hebrew.
Jewish community growing strong
Shortly after the Abraham Accords were signed in 2020, Rabbi Duchman helped to establish the UAE’s first Jewish community centre. The nursery followed shortly after.
Since then, he said the UAE now has one of the fastest growing Jewish communities in the Arab world, now with more than 5,000 people.
“Today, we have many thousands, it's a huge community and it is continuing to grow,” he said.
“We have people moving here from all over Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Australia, Israel, so it's a very diverse community.”
He added that it is safer to be a Jew in the UAE than in many European countries.
“As our community continues to prosper and thrive, we welcome to our schools and educational institutions Jewish children and people from all over the world, living, visiting and doing business here in the UAE, to learn and experience Jewish values and traditions,” he said.
The new centre that will be launched in Abu Dhabi will also function as a nursery and an educational campus similar to the one in Dubai, offering Sunday school and support for those wishing to learn Hebrew.
“We want to offer the best quality of Jewish education and to compete with schools in London, New York and in Tel Aviv,” Rabbi Duchman said.
“Our after-school programme and Sunday school is geared more towards the Jewish community and includes members from France, UK, Israel, America and places in Asia.”
Mini Miracles Nursery, which hosts pupils until foundation stage two, serves only kosher food and follows days off according to Jewish holidays and festivals.
“This year, we have foundation stage one and two, and by 2024, we plan to go on to year one [and] build a full-fledged Jewish school,” he said.
“The challenge is you cannot build a school in one day.
“It's not a question in my mind that here in the UAE we will [someday] have one of the highest levels of Jewish education worldwide.”
Ms Sellem said that for her and her husband, starting the nursery stemmed from a realisation that there could be no Jewish community without a core educational facility.
“The centre of a community is always children,” she said.
“You can have all the synagogues in the world, you can have all the kosher food in the world, if you don't have proper education for children, you will never have a proper community.
“It’s such a historical moment. There's a Jewish nursery in the UAE and now there are so many pupils.
“There's such a high pace of Jewish life in Dubai."
She said that at their current rate of growth, the school may need to move to another location as it continues to expand.
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
Porsche Taycan Turbo specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
T20s 52; Runs 1,456; 100s 1; 50s 7; Avg 31.65; Best 116 not out
The studios taking part (so far)
Punch
Vogue Fitness
Sweat
Bodytree Studio
The Hot House
The Room
Inspire Sports (Ladies Only)
Cryo
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.”
THE BIO
Bio Box
Role Model: Sheikh Zayed, God bless his soul
Favorite book: Zayed Biography of the leader
Favorite quote: To be or not to be, that is the question, from William Shakespeare's Hamlet
Warner 151 not out, Burns 97, Labuschagne 55 not out
Pakistan 240
Shafiq 76, Starc 4-52
Men’s singles
Group A: Son Wan-ho (Kor), Lee Chong Wei (Mas), Ng Long Angus (HK), Chen Long (Chn) Group B: Kidambi Srikanth (Ind), Shi Yugi (Chn), Chou Tien Chen (Tpe), Viktor Axelsen (Den)
Women’s Singles
Group A: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn), Pusarla Sindhu (Ind), Sayaka Sato (Jpn), He Bingjiao (Chn) Group B: Tai Tzu Ying (Tpe), Sung Hi-hyun (Kor), Ratchanok Intanon (Tha), Chen Yufei (Chn)
Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
Some popular drinks with high levels of sugar and caffeine have slipped through the fizz drink tax loophole, as they are not carbonated or classed as an energy drink.
Arizona Iced Tea with lemon is one of those beverages, with one 240 millilitre serving offering up 23 grams of sugar - about six teaspoons.
A 680ml can of Arizona Iced Tea costs just Dh6.
Most sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, five teaspoons of sugar in a 500ml bottle.
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Scoreline
Switzerland 5
Motori Profile
Date started: March 2020
Co-founder/CEO: Ahmed Eissa
Based: UAE, Abu Dhabi
Sector: Insurance Sector
Size: 50 full-time employees (Inside and Outside UAE)
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Safe City Group
Dubai Rugby Sevens
November 30, December 1-2
International Vets
Christina Noble Children’s Foundation fixtures
Thursday, November 30:
10.20am, Pitch 3, v 100 World Legends Project
1.20pm, Pitch 4, v Malta Marauders
Friday, December 1:
9am, Pitch 4, v SBA Pirates
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch (captain), Ashton Agar, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, Kane Richardson, Steve Smith, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, David Warner, Adam Zampa
