Efrat settlers hold virtual sukkah meeting with UAE Jews
Efrat Council head Oded Revivi is among those in the settlement movement who has spoken out in favor of Israel’s peace deal with the UAE.
By TOVAH LAZAROFFA United Arab Emirates (UAE) flag waves alongside an Israeli flag(photo credit: REUTERS/CHRISTOPHER PIKE)
When Belgian native Alex Peterfreund first opened a diamond business in the United Arab Emirates in 2014, his family and friends thought he was crazy.“It was like telling them I had gone to live in Ramallah. My parents didn’t sleep at night. They sent me text messages every two hours to make sure I was alright,” he recalled in a virtual conversation he had with members of the West Bank Efrat settlement late Wednesday night.Efrat Council head Oded Revivi is among those in the settlement movement who has spoken out in favor of Israel’s peace deal with the UAE.As part of his desire to embrace the burgeoning peace process, Revivi plans to organize a trip from Efrat to the UAE once the COVID-19 pandemic has ended.“We are holding this meeting because of the peace deal,” Revivi said, but he noted that the holiday of Sukkot was heavily associated with peace and faith. This year, it was also linked to the diplomatic faith that a new era was opening and “we have connections” that in the past were forbidden to travel to, Revivi said.As a first step toward the eventual UAE journey, he organized a virtual sukkah meeting between residents of Efrat and a few members of the UAE Jewish community, including Peterfreund.The Belgian businessman, who is one of the founders of the UAE Jewish community, is also its cantor.From the start he was taken by how friendly the people were, even though he made clear at all points that he was Jewish, Peterfreund recalled.There were only 10 or 20 Jews at the time that would gather for Purim and Hanukkah, but the daily life of a community was absent.Peterfreund recalled how he first started to pray together with a Jewish South African attorney, just the two of them. They met daily as if they had the mandatory 10 people needed for quorum. Within a year they had grown to 10 worshipers and needed a Torah scroll. A traveler brought them one from Britain, by placing it in his golf bag and traveling business class.What is special about the community is that religious people of all denominations as well as secular all mix together.“Here we are all Jews. We feel a sense of unity that is hard to find elsewhere,” Peterfreund said.“The peace deal with Israel has changed everything, we have come out from under the radar,” and as a result, he said, it would be able to offer religious travelers kosher food and prayer services.The community has a rabbi and is getting ready to open a formal synagogue, he said.“Nothing will be missing, we are waiting for you,” Peterfreund said.
