Arab world’s biggest Jewish wedding marks Emirati rabbi’s nuptials
UAE rabbi Levi Duchman married Lea Hadad at an event attended by 1,500 guests, the biggest Jewish event in the Gulf of recent history
The rabbi to United Arab Emirates was married this week in an event that organisers say was one of the largest Jewish weddings ever staged in the Arab world.
Rabbi Levi Duchman married Lea Hadad, originally from Brussels, at an event attended by 1,500 guests, including Emirati royals and prominent Jewish leaders.
The wedding day coincided with the second anniversary of the Abraham Accords, a series of international agreements that saw several Arab countries including the UAE normalise their relations with Israel.
Rabbi Duchman, 29, has been based in the United Arab Emirates since 2014, building Jewish communities in both Abu Dhabi and Dubai including a Jewish school, a mikvah and a kosher agency that is licenced by the government.
His 27-year-old wife Lea is of Moroccan heritage and raised in Belgium, is the daughter of Brussels Chief Rabbi Menachem Hadad. She will now relocate to Abu Dhabi.
In a statement announcing the wedding Chabad said the wedding was “a source of great national pride, as a demonstration and living experience of the Emirates’ longstanding investment in creating a culture of coexistence and religious diversity.
“The flourishing of Jewish life across the Emirates is a testament to the commitment of the UAE government to those values and its warm welcome and constant support of the Jewish community in helping Jewish life thrive.”
Rabbi Duchman was born in Brooklyn and spent two years in Morocco, where he says and his sister Chana drew inspiration to help Jewish life flourish in the Arab world.
He moved to the UAE in 2014.
Several other rabbis have since followed him to the country to serve sections of the Jewish community.
Edwin Shuker, vice-president of the Board of Deputies who attended the simcha, said: “This wedding was a landmark in the history of the relationship between Jews and Arabs. Pictures of Emirati notables hugging and dancing with a burgeoning local Jewish community will send a powerful message across the region”
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