Meet the UAE's Arabic-speaking rabbi in residence, who fled Lebanon as a child

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.

Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE ambassador to the US, with Rabbi Dr Elie Abadie, at a recent event. Courtesy Jewish Council of the Emirates

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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Like a Fading Shadow

Antonio Muñoz Molina

Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez

Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)

How to apply for a drone permit

Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
Submit their request

What are the regulations?

Fly it within visual line of sight
Never over populated areas
Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
Should have a live feed of the drone flight
Drones must weigh 5 kg or less

The biog

Family: Parents and four sisters

Education: Bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing at American University of Sharjah

A self-confessed foodie, she enjoys trying out new cuisines, her current favourite is the poke superfood bowls

Likes reading: autobiographies and fiction

Favourite holiday destination: Italy

Posts information about challenges, events, runs in other emirates on the group's Instagram account @Anagowrunning

Has created a database of Emirati and GCC sportspeople on Instagram @abeermk, highlight: Athletes

Apart from training, also talks to women about nutrition, healthy lifestyle, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure

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UAE jiu-jitsu squad

Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)

Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)

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GOLF’S RAHMBO

- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
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India team for Sri Lanka series

Test squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Priyank Panchal, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant (wk), KS Bharath (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Sourabh Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.

T20 squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Chahar, Deepak Hooda, Ravindra Jadeja, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Avesh Khan

Director: Laxman Utekar

Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna

Rating: 1/5

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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.”

MATCH INFO

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Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)

Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5