A holiday in the Jewish community in the United Arab Emirates: Rabbi of the country and Chabad emissary Rabbi Levi Dochman married this evening (Wednesday) the bride Leah Haddad from Brussels.
The Hasidic wedding was crowned in the local media as “the largest Jewish event in the history of the United Arab Emirates”.
1,500 guests from all over the world flocked to Abu Dhabi since yesterday, to participate in the Hasidic wedding of Rabbi Duchman, who has been living in the United Arab Emirates for eight years.
Among the many guests who came to the wedding, rabbis, Emirati royalty, and senior figures stand out.
During the canopy, a special blessing was said in Hebrew, Arabic and English to the President of the United Emirates Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and all the heads of the Emirati government.
The musical part was entrusted to the great Hasidic singers including Avraham Fried, Yitzhak Meir Halfagot, the ‘Neshma’ choir conducted by Itzik Filmer, and Ami Cohen’s orchestra.
Since his arrival, the Chabad emissary has founded a series of Jewish institutions that serve the Jews of the Emirates. Today the community in the Emirates is growing non-stop and is considered the fastest growing Jewish community in the contemporary Arab world.
Through the organization he founded – the JewishUAE, members of the local Jewish community and the many Jewish visitors enjoy a number of synagogues in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and kosher food in local restaurants and hotels thanks to the official kosher body he founded in the Emirates – EAKC.
In addition, Rabbi Duchman is responsible for establishing a training program for rabbis, Jewish weddings, relocation assistance, business networking and a rich community life, as well as a Jewish education system he established, which includes a kindergarten, a Hebrew school, a youth club and lectures for adults, all of this with incredible cooperation from the Emirati government.
In the last two years, four more couples of Chabad emissaries have joined the extensive activity of Rabbi Duchman.
Photo: Jewish UAE
“The wedding,” says one of the Chabad dispatches in the Emirates, “held on the 8th day of Elul – the birthday of the ‘great luminaries’, the founder of Chassidism Baal Shem Tov and the founder of Chabad Chassidism, Admor the Elder, illustrates the Hasidic revolution that brought and brings growth The impressiveness of Jewish life throughout the Emirates – and not least the impressive attitude of the authorities to the community.
“This huge wedding is a salute to the Jewish and Hasidic revolution brought about here by a messenger of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.”
Rabbi Dochman, will continue his mission with his wife even after his marriage.
His wife, Leah Haddad, was born and raised in Belgium to a family of Moroccan descent, and is the daughter of the chief rabbi of Brussels and Chabad emissary, Rabbi Menachem Haddad.
His grandfather began the tradition of apostolic work when he founded a community in Milan. With this background she is well prepared for the role she takes on as the Chief Rabbi’s wife.