United Arab Emirates Rabbi Levi Duchman lit the Hanukkah candles at the Israeli pavilion at EXPO 2020 in Dubai on Sunday. A candle-lighting ceremony was also held at the Bahraini pavilion and was attended by former Bahraini Ambassador to the US Houda Nonoo and members of the Arab Gulf Jewish community.
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Over 2 million people have visited the fair, the world's largest fair, thus far.
The Dubai candle-lighting event, which would not have been possible prior to the signing of the Abraham Accords, took place thanks to the efforts of the Jewish National Fund in the UAE. Israel's Consul General in Dubai Ilan Sztulman and Commissioner-General of Israel's EXPO 2020 Pavilion Elazar Cohen were among those in attendance.
Duchman lit the Hanukkah candles in the presence of local leaders, businesspeople, Jewish residents of the UAE, and tourists from around the world.
The event included a performance by the members of the Jewish community's children's choir and was attended by students of the community's Hebrew school.
Thousands of Jews, none of them native-born, now live in the UAE and other Gulf states.
Dubai has one older, Ashkenazi synagogue known as "the Villa," which was opened around a decade ago in the private home of a South African attorney. Jews interested in praying there learned of its location by word of mouth. Another Sephardi synagogue is situated in the private residence of Chabad Rabbi Levi Duchman, who arrived in Dubai from Morocco seven years ago. A third, more imposing synagogue, along with a mosque and a church, will be opened as part of the Abrahamic Family Campus, to be established on Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Island. Alongside the three houses of worship, the campus will include a common garden in which a small museum and educational center will be built. The Abrahamic Family Campus is set to open in 2022.
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