The largest Jewish wedding in the history of the Persian Gulf took place in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday evening as the Rav of the UAE, Rav Levi Duchman, got married to Léa Hadad from Brussels. Hadad is the daughter of Belgian Chief Rabbi Menachem Hadad. There were around 1,500 guests in attendance from around the world, including Emirati royals and officials and prominent Rabbanim. Those singing at the wedding include Avraham Fried, Ami Cohen, Itche Meir Helfgot and the Neshama choir. Rav Duchman, who has been living in the UAE for eight years, in is one of the founders of the Jewish kehilla in the UAE and has been instrumental in establishing the infrastructure of a Jewish kehilla. Today, the kehilla in the Emirates is the fastest growing Jewish community in the Arab world. In the last two years, another four couples of shluchei Chabad have moved to the UAE to assist Rav Duchman. Much of the supplies, from locally slaughtered kosher chickens to imported kosher wine, as well as a growing plethora of Jewish services, are all available locally through a constellation of Jewish institutions created by Rabbi Duchman with support from the government. Ahead of, and since, the signing of the Abraham Accords in the fall of 2020, the availability of Jewish amenities in the UAE has greatly enhanced. Dozens of young children attend Mini Miracles, the country’s first Jewish school, while dozens of other children attend the Talmud Torah, the Jewish educational supplemental program. Both the grades and enrollment are expected to expand year over year in the near future. There is a well-trafficked mikvah, completed last year in Dubai. With kosher certification and supplies available, privately owned kosher restaurants and caterers have begun to pop up. Many hotels now offer kosher catering and room service, something not often available outside of Israel. There are daily and weekly Torah classes and prayer services held across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The necessities for Jewish communal life are increasingly available in the Emirates. Jews from around the world are finding the UAE a viable place to visit and live because of the growing Jewish infrastructure created by Rabbi Duchman and the kosher options now available as a result. The Jewish community enjoys strong support from UAE leadership and openly celebrates Jewish life and holidays. With the near daily additions to their expat community and flow of Jews and Israelis to the Emirates, Jewish UAE provides relocation support and business networking. Hadad received her primary Jewish education in Antwerp, followed by three years at the BMC Center, a seminary in Sainte Agathe, Quebec, near Montreal. After graduation, she returned to Brussels, where she assisted her father in providing kosher certification in the city and ran a host of communal programs. Twenty-nine years old, the groom is the son of Rabbi Sholom and Feige Duchman. His maternal great-grandparents, Rabbi Bentzion and Golda Shemtov, were longstanding Chabad emissaries in the USSR and then the United Kingdom. They had married impoverished, in Siberia, where Rabbi Shemtov just finished four years of harsh labor as a punishment for the crime of teaching Judaism. A bent spoon served as the improvised wedding band, which stands in stark contrast to the wedding of their great-grandson and the welcoming environment from the government in which he has […]

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