Paving the way for Jewish culture and education in the UAE
“We were tired of Europe and didn’t feel safe,” he said.
By SETH J. FRANTZMANUpdated: DECEMBER 17, 2020 18:18A man stands next to a giant menorah as people celebrate Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates December 10, 2020.(photo credit: REUTERS/CHRISTOPHER PIKE)
Alec Sellem moved to the United Arab Emirates in February. “We were tired of Europe and didn’t feel safe,” he said. In the UAE, he found a nation with visionary leadership and a place of safety, surrounded by welcoming people.This safety has now been underpinned by the Abraham Accords, increasing relations with Israel and a higher profile for the Jewish community in Dubai.Sellem said he has been impressed by government messages that show Jews as part of one of the many diverse groups in the country. Hotels will now have kosher options, and that symbolism is important.“The knowledge of Jewish life and culture is limited because there isn’t Jewish history here,” he said. “We wanted to have a center and educational program.”Sellem got in touch with other leaders who are working on UAE-Israel relations, including Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum. He said he wants to open a nursery school and Jewish identity center by January 2021. The plan is to open a school that will serve children ages 18 months to four years.“Core values and principles are to be taught,” he said. “We want to base it on a model in the US, a Jewish secular preschool.”It will have high academic standards and cater to different languages, including French, English, Arabic and Russian, “so they [the parents] can choose the extra language and be taught by native speakers,” he said. “This is what we did, and it will be the first Jewish nursery school in the UAE and Gulf.”Sellem said he is working with Rabbi Levi Duchman, the Chabad shliach, and the school will be called Mini Miracles. It will be open to children of all faiths and cultures, he said, adding: “We want to bring children together in a happy, tolerant, open-minded place.”There will also be a center for Jewish identity called the Abraham Miracles Center, which will have a structure for teenagers and adults. He hopes to work with pioneering Israeli nonprofits in areas such as agricultural technology.“Also, for the adults and older people, we will try to have high-profile people come and give a speech about the Gulf relationship with Israel,” Sellem said.It will also look at the diversity of Jewish people today throughout the world. “Here we are starting, and that goes in two different ways, so first is education to shape a strong identity,” he said, to create an understanding of Jews and for Jews.There will be a kosher kitchen, and the center will grow organically, Sellem said.The Jewish community in the UAE was discrete in the past, but now he has placed a menorah outside for Hanukkah.“Since I arrived here, I always felt comfortable, and the community needs to adapt because there is a massive rush of tourists coming,” Sellem said. “Rabbi Duchman says that he had Friday-night Shabbat at hotels, and every spot is taken and there is almost a waiting list to attend. So the challenge is to balance what we need straight away and what we need for the future and to make sure the community and foreigners are welcome here and taken care of.”
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