The UAE’s new senior rabbi in residence, Dr Elie Abadie was, you could say, born into the role.
Coming from a family of rabbis who can be traced back to the 15th century in Spain, it was arguably his destiny to fall in line, too.
He was interested in learning about his religion, but he did not seriously consider becoming a rabbi, at least at first.
At the age of 5, he wanted to become a doctor.
"I wanted to be learned as a rabbi, not necessarily function as a rabbi," Rabbi Abadie, 59, told The National.
My parents escaped from their home through the backdoor as people tried to get into my parents' house. They left and never returned
But medicine ultimately became more of a part-time pursuit as his interest in serving the Jewish community developed.
“Life has its challenges and more than challenges, has its surprises,” he said.
Rabbi Abadie was born in Lebanon in 1960. His parents were from Syria and they belonged to a community of about 40,000 Jewish people who lived in the country in the 1940s.
But like many Jewish people in Syria, they left after the UN General Assembly adopted a partition plan for Palestine in 1947.
“My parents lived right next to the synagogue. They saw people enter the synagogue, pillage it, torched it, took out the Torah scrolls and holy books and burnt them,” he said.
“My parents escaped from their home through the backdoor as people tried to get into my parents’ house. They left and never returned.”
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Abraham Accord - in pictures
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The family sought refuge in Lebanon, where they lived in peace for many years, until tensions increased again in the region, just two years before the 1973 Arab–Israeli War
"We left in 1971 because there was an incident and my family felt like a target," Rabbi Abadie said.
One day, the family learnt that pictures of Rabbi Abadie's father, along with two other rabbis, were plastered on walls in Lebanon and printed in Time magazine.
“On the picture, there was a caption saying these are the Zionist agents and an entire article accusing them of being Zionists, which was not true at all," he said.
“They were just Jewish community members in Lebanon.”
That incident, and the arrival of people from the Palestinian Liberation Organisation from Jordan, shook Lebanon's Jewish community.
Rabbi Abadie said his family had little choice but to leave.
But they first had to find a country to accept them because they were refugees under Lebanese law.
Mexico seemed like the only choice because they had family there.
“At that time, my oldest brother lived in Mexico since 1965. My father had sisters and cousins in Mexico from the 1940s as they escaped Syria,” he said.
“So my parents asked my brother to plead for our lives to the Mexican government, that we were in danger and we need to leave the country.”
The family was eventually granted permission to move to Mexico, where Rabbi Abadie – already fluent in Hebrew, French and Arabic – mastered Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.
He learnt English much later, when he decided to study medicine.
He turned down offers from two prestigious universities in Mexico City.
“I had to do lab practice and take tests and examinations on the Sabbath day. They could not make an exception,” he said.
“Then I found out about Yeshiva University, a Jewish university in New York, where I could become a doctor without having to desecrate the Sabbath for my studies and lab work or examinations. That’s how I came to the US.”
Rabbi Abadie went to New York at the age of 18.
“I did not speak English in my first year in college in the US. I was fortunate to have a teacher who spoke Hebrew, a teacher who spoke French and a teacher who spoke Spanish, so I took the tests in those languages. I even took biology in Hebrew,” he said.
“I took political science in French and I took history in Spanish."
But it only took him an year to become fluent in English.
He became a rabbi at the university, where there was a seminary, and then graduated to become a doctor.
Today, he practises medicine as a part-time gastroenterologist and hopes to continue treating patients once he moves to the UAE next month.
He has been appointed senior rabbi in residence at the Jewish Council of the Emirates and will take up his post on November 1, if the role receives final approval. He first visited the Emirates about two years ago.
“I met the community and toured the beautiful country. It was truly a pleasure to see such a beautiful country and community,” he said.
“I had to come back again to attend a beautiful ceremony. And I have been in constant touch with the community, advising them and helping them.”
He longs to return to Lebanon and visit Syria to see where his family is from.
“I am proud to be the senior rabbi in the UAE,” he said.
“I look forward to being a part and parcel of the fabric of the UAE population. I will send invitations to all officials to come and visit us and live in an environment of tolerance, acceptance, harmony and coexistence.
“It’s something the whole world needs so badly.”
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Yemen's Bahais and the charges they often face
The Baha'i faith was made known in Yemen in the 19th century, first introduced by an Iranian man named Ali Muhammad Al Shirazi, considered the Herald of the Baha'i faith in 1844.
The Baha'i faith has had a growing number of followers in recent years despite persecution in Yemen and Iran.
Today, some 2,000 Baha'is reside in Yemen, according to Insaf.
"The 24 defendants represented by the House of Justice, which has intelligence outfits from the uS and the UK working to carry out an espionage scheme in Yemen under the guise of religion.. aimed to impant and found the Bahai sect on Yemeni soil by bringing foreign Bahais from abroad and homing them in Yemen," the charge sheet said.
Baha'Ullah, the founder of the Bahai faith, was exiled by the Ottoman Empire in 1868 from Iran to what is now Israel. Now, the Bahai faith's highest governing body, known as the Universal House of Justice, is based in the Israeli city of Haifa, which the Bahais turn towards during prayer.
The Houthis cite this as collective "evidence" of Bahai "links" to Israel - which the Houthis consider their enemy.
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
Dust and sand storms compared
Sand storm
- Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
- Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
- Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
- Travel distance: Limited
- Source: Open desert areas with strong winds
Dust storm
- Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
- Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
- Duration: Can linger for days
- Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
- Source: Can be carried from distant regions
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
Price: Dh380,000
On sale: now
More Iraq election coverage:
How to invest in gold
Investors can tap into the gold price by purchasing physical jewellery, coins and even gold bars, but these need to be stored safely and possibly insured.
A cheaper and more straightforward way to benefit from gold price growth is to buy an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Most advisers suggest sticking to “physical” ETFs. These hold actual gold bullion, bars and coins in a vault on investors’ behalf. Others do not hold gold but use derivatives to track the price instead, adding an extra layer of risk. The two biggest physical gold ETFs are SPDR Gold Trust and iShares Gold Trust.
Another way to invest in gold’s success is to buy gold mining stocks, but Mr Gravier says this brings added risks and can be more volatile. “They have a serious downside potential should the price consolidate.”
Mr Kyprianou says gold and gold miners are two different asset classes. “One is a commodity and the other is a company stock, which means they behave differently.”
Mining companies are a business, susceptible to other market forces, such as worker availability, health and safety, strikes, debt levels, and so on. “These have nothing to do with gold at all. It means that some companies will survive, others won’t.”
By contrast, when gold is mined, it just sits in a vault. “It doesn’t even rust, which means it retains its value,” Mr Kyprianou says.
You may already have exposure to gold miners in your portfolio, say, through an international ETF or actively managed mutual fund.
You could spread this risk with an actively managed fund that invests in a spread of gold miners, with the best known being BlackRock Gold & General. It is up an incredible 55 per cent over the past year, and 240 per cent over five years. As always, past performance is no guide to the future.
TOURNAMENT INFO
Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Key products and UAE prices
iPhone XS
With a 5.8-inch screen, it will be an advance version of the iPhone X. It will be dual sim and comes with better battery life, a faster processor and better camera. A new gold colour will be available.
Price: Dh4,229
iPhone XS Max
It is expected to be a grander version of the iPhone X with a 6.5-inch screen; an inch bigger than the screen of the iPhone 8 Plus.
Price: Dh4,649
iPhone XR
A low-cost version of the iPhone X with a 6.1-inch screen, it is expected to attract mass attention. According to industry experts, it is likely to have aluminium edges instead of stainless steel.
Price: Dh3,179
Apple Watch Series 4
More comprehensive health device with edge-to-edge displays that are more than 30 per cent bigger than displays on current models.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
