Chabad of United Arab Emirates
Chabad-Lubavitch operation in the United Arab Emirates, led since 2014–15 by Rabbi Levi Duchman and recognised as an official Chabad mission in October 2020; its emissary Zvi Kogan was murdered in November 2024
| Chabad of the United Arab Emirates
| |
|---|---|
| Type | Chabad-Lubavitch emissary operation (country mission) |
| Founded | Resident rabbi from 2014–15; appointed official Chabad emissary October 2020 |
| Founder(s) | Levi Duchman |
| Headquarters | Abu Dhabi and Dubai, United Arab Emirates |
| Area served | United Arab Emirates (with past visits to Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman) |
| Key people | Levi Duchman (director); Mendel Duchman (Dubai); Yehuda and Mimi Marsow (Abu Dhabi); Zvi Kogan (staff, murdered 2024) |
| Website | chabad.ae |
| Remarks | Associated bodies (self-described): Jewish UAE (2014); Jewish Community Center, Dubai; Beit Tefilah Community, Abu Dhabi; Emirates Agency for Kosher Certification (2020) |
Chabad of the United Arab Emirates is the Chabad-Lubavitch operation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is run by Rabbi Levi Duchman, an American-born rabbi who settled in the country in 2014 or 2015 and was formally appointed Chabad's emissary there by Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch in October 2020, weeks after the Abraham Accords.[1][2] Until that appointment Duchman's congregation was not an official Chabad house, and in mid-2020 it was in open conflict with Dubai's older Jewish congregation and was rebuked by the Dubai authorities.[3] Chabad of the UAE runs synagogues and community centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, a kosher certification agency used by the Abu Dhabi government's tourism department, a women's mikvah, a nursery and a burial society.[4] In November 2024 one of its emissaries, Zvi Kogan, was abducted and murdered. An Abu Dhabi court sentenced three men to death and a fourth to life imprisonment in March 2025.[5][6]
Emissaries and registered entities
Early Chabad contact (2008–2014). According to Chabad.org, Chabad's involvement began in 2008, when New York Jewish businesspeople who had been travelling to the UAE asked Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, chairman of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch, to send a rabbi. From 2010 Chabad rabbinical students led holiday services in Dubai, starting with what Chabad.org calls "the first-ever Yom Kippur service in the Arab state".[1] (Chabad-side.)
Levi Duchman. Accounts of Levi Duchman's arrival differ. Chabad.org's announcement says he "first came to the UAE in late 2014" and "moved to the country later that year". The version of the same article republished by JNS says "the winter of 2015". Chabad of the UAE's own website says he "arrived in the country in 2014".[1][2][7] Chabad.org describes him as having "been the only resident rabbi for six years" by 2020, holding permanent residency, and as having trained in Casablanca under his brother-in-law Rabbi Levi Banon of Chabad Lubavitch of Morocco.[1] On 23 October 2020 Chabad.org reported that the movement had appointed him "as the Chabad emissary to the UAE". Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, vice-chairman of Merkos, was quoted in support.[1]
Other staff. Duchman's brother, Rabbi Mendel Duchman, co-heads the community in Dubai.[4] In Abu Dhabi, Rabbi Yehuda and Mimi Marsow "oversee the spiritual needs of the community", according to Chabad.org. Zvi Kogan joined the team in 2020 and later managed logistics and the Rimon Market kosher supermarket in Dubai (see below).[6]
Entities. Chabad of the UAE's website names the following bodies set up by Duchman. All are self-described, and no registry entries were checked.
- Jewish UAE (2014), "an organization dedicated to serving the thousands of Jews living, working, and visiting the United Arab Emirates".[7]
- The Jewish Community in Dubai – Jewish Community Center (JCC), headed by Levi and Mendel Duchman.[4]
- Beit Tefilah Community, Abu Dhabi, described as "the only licensed and recognized Jewish community (License number S.J. 001) in the capital city of Abu Dhabi", licensed by Abu Dhabi's Department of Community Development.[4]
- Emirates Agency for Kosher Certification (EAKC), set up in September 2020.[4]
- Chevra Kadisha of the UAE (burial society), "formalized" by Duchman "with the help of the UAE Government".[4]
- Editor's note: No UAE company or licence registry was searched for this page. The licence number and licensing body come only from Chabad of the UAE's website. The name "Jewish Community of the UAE" used by Duchman's group in 2020 is not the same body as the older Jewish Community of the Emirates (see Controversies).
Institutions and centres
- Synagogues and community centres. By 2020 Duchman ran a synagogue in Dubai with a daily minyan, "some 20 kilometers up the coast" from the older Villa synagogue, and had opened what Chabad.org called "the capital's only synagogue and Jewish community center" in Abu Dhabi, inaugurated at Rosh Hashanah 2020.[1]
- Education. A Talmud Torah opened with four children and had about 40 pupils by 2020. Older children use Chabad's online Nigri International Jewish Online School.[1] The website also lists Mini Miracles Nursery (2020), described as "the first and only secular Jewish nursery in the country", and a Hebrew Sunday club.[4]
- Kosher food. Duchman arranged what Chabad.org calls "the country's first kosher shechita" in 2017, then set up the Emirates Agency for Kosher Certification (EAKC). In 2020 EAKC supervised a glatt-kosher restaurant, Armani/Kaf, and kosher kitchens at the Armed Forces Officers Club and Hotel and the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi.[1] The Rimon Market kosher supermarket in Dubai opened in December 2022.[6]
- Mikvah. A women's mikvah in Dubai was completed in 2021.[4][6]
Relations with the state and the royal family
Chabad of the UAE presents its growth as having state backing. On his appointment in 2020, Levi Duchman said that "none of this could have happened without the support and vision of the UAE's benevolent leader, his highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan".[1] The Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism advised hotels to offer kosher food and "partnered with EAKC" (the Emirates Agency for Kosher Certification) to guide and certify them. The Armed Forces Officers Club and Hotel had an EAKC-certified kitchen.[1]
In November 2022 Rabbi Levi Shemtov of American Friends of Lubavitch toured the Gulf with Duchman and Rabbi Mendy Chitrik of Istanbul. COLlive, a Chabad news site, reported meetings with the UAE foreign minister, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the cleric Abdullah bin Bayyah.[8] (Chabad-side.)
Diplomacy and the Abraham Accords. Chabad's own reporting ties the official appointment to the Accords. Chabad.org's announcement opened with the US-brokered agreements signed on 15 September 2020, and said Duchman had been "a member of the UAE's delegation to the Peace and Prosperity conference in Bahrain" in 2019.[1][2] Mendy Chitrik, chairman of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, told the Forward that after the Accords he "made frequent trips to the UAE to organize kosher slaughter there in preparation for an increase in Jewish tourism".[9]
- Editor's note: No source was found showing a Chabad role in negotiating the Abraham Accords themselves. The connection shown above is Chabad's own framing, plus Duchman's place on a UAE delegation in 2019.
Israeli government. After Kogan's murder, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it "a despicable act of antisemitic terrorism" and said that "the State of Israel will use all means" to deal with the killers and "those who dispatched them".[6][10]
Funding and donors
- In 2020 The Times of Israel reported that Duchman's "Jewish Community of the UAE" "is supported by wealthy Ukrainian businessman Naum Koen".[3] (Critical press.)
- Chabad.org says the 2008 approach came from unnamed New York businesspeople.[1]
- Editor's note: No accounts, filings or donor lists for Chabad of the UAE, Jewish UAE or EAKC were found. Koen is the only named funder found in independent reporting. US 990 filings by Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch might show grants for the UAE; they are on the 22 October Form 990 list.
Controversies and incidents
Split with the Jewish Community of the Emirates (2020)
In June 2020 Raphael Ahren of The Times of Israel reported that Duchman's new congregation, the "Jewish Community of the UAE", had "splintered off" from Dubai's established congregation, the Jewish Community of the Emirates (JCE), led by Ross Kriel, whose non-resident chief rabbi was Yehuda Sarna. The newer group's president was businessman Solly Wolf. Ahren reported that local authorities had ordered the group to "immediately" suspend its social media accounts. Its Twitter account had given the impression that it was the country's officially recognised Jewish community, and it had posted old photographs of Wolf with Emirati leaders. Instead, the group renamed the account. Ahren also wrote: "Duchman's operation is not listed as an official Chabad house, and he does not claim to be an official representative of the movement." Some sources saw the split as a "hostile takeover" attempt. Others credited Duchman with bringing kosher meat to Dubai.[3] Duchman was formally appointed Chabad's emissary four months later.[1]
The same article reported a 2016 episode in Bahrain, in which Duchman brought Jewish businessmen who were filmed singing at Manama's Bab al-Bahrain. A source told the paper this was "totally unacceptable". See Chabad Lubavitch of Bahrain.[3]
- Critical press. This was an administrative instruction as reported, not a legal finding. No official Emirati statement was found.
Murder of Zvi Kogan (2024)
Zvi Kogan, a 28-year-old Israeli-Moldovan Chabad emissary, was abducted in Dubai on 21 November 2024. His body was found on 24 November.[6][10] Chabad.org says he joined Chabad of the UAE in 2020, managed logistics at the Abu Dhabi centre and the Rimon Market, and acted as an aide to Duchman. His widow, Rivky, is a niece of Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, the Chabad emissaries killed in Mumbai in 2008.[6]
Arrests. The UAE interior ministry named three Uzbek nationals as suspects.[10] According to Turkish security sources quoted by the Turkish state broadcaster TRT World, Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and police detained them in Istanbul and extradited them to the UAE.[11]
Allegations of Iranian involvement. The BBC reported that Haaretz had cited Emirati security sources as saying a cell "indirectly operated by Iran" was responsible, and that Iran's embassy "categorically rejects allegations" of involvement.[10] These remain allegations. The court verdict as reported does not mention Iran.
Court outcome (conviction). On 31 March 2025 the State Security Chamber of the Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeals "unanimously convicted the defendants of the kidnapping and murder" of Kogan. Three were sentenced to death "for the premeditated murder with terrorist intention", and the fourth, an accomplice, to life imprisonment followed by deportation. Under UAE law the death sentences are automatically referred to the Federal Supreme Court.[5]
- Editor's note: No report of the Federal Supreme Court's decision on review was found as of October 2026. The death sentences should therefore be treated as first-instance convictions under automatic review. The official verdict release did not name the defendants.
Chabad response. Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky said the "worldwide Chabad community ... are shocked, grieving and outraged".[6]
Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States
Three of the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States (ARIS) members serve in the UAE, and all are tied to Chabad of the UAE:[12][13]
- Levi Duchman, "Rabbi of the UAE", is on the executive board. Chabad.org called him "vice president of ARIS" in 2020.[1]
- Mendel Duchman (Dubai).
- Shimon Frenkel of the Emirates Agency for Kosher Certification.
The non-Chabad Jewish Community of the Emirates (JCE) and the Gulf-wide Association of Gulf Jewish Communities, whose rabbi Elie Abadie is based in Dubai, have no rabbis on the ARIS list.[12][14]
Timeline
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2008 | New York businesspeople ask Merkos to send a rabbi to the UAE (Chabad.org) |
| 2010 | Chabad rabbinical students lead Yom Kippur services in Dubai |
| 2014–15 | Levi Duchman arrives and sets up Jewish UAE (the dates differ between sources) |
| 2017 | First kosher shechita in the UAE, arranged by Duchman |
| 2019 | Duchman joins the UAE delegation to the Bahrain "Peace and Prosperity" conference |
| June 2020 | Dubai authorities order the "Jewish Community of the UAE" to suspend its social media (The Times of Israel) |
| Sept 2020 | Abraham Accords signed; EAKC set up |
| 23 Oct 2020 | Duchman appointed official Chabad emissary to the UAE |
| 2021 | Women's mikvah completed in Dubai |
| Dec 2022 | Rimon Market kosher supermarket opens in Dubai |
| 21–24 Nov 2024 | Zvi Kogan abducted and murdered |
| 31 Mar 2025 | Three death sentences and one life sentence; automatic review by the Federal Supreme Court |
See also
- Chabad-Lubavitch in West Asia
- Zionist connections in the United Arab Emirates
- Chabad Lubavitch of Bahrain
- Chabad in Saudi Arabia
- Chabad Lubavitch of Kuwait
- Chabad in Iran
- Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States
- Abraham Accords
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 Dovid Margolin, "Chabad-Lubavitch Announces Emissary to the United Arab Emirates", Chabad.org, 23 October 2020. Chabad-side.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Chabad-Lubavitch announces emissary to United Arab Emirates", JNS, 1 November 2020 (republished from Chabad.org/News). Chabad-side.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Raphael Ahren, "Muscling in on Dubai's existing Jewish community, a Chabad rabbi stirs discord", The Times of Israel, 29 June 2020. Critical press.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Chabad of the United Arab Emirates, "About Chabad of the UAE", chabad.ae, accessed 19 October 2026. Self-published; Chabad-side.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Emirates News Agency (WAM), "Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeals: Death sentence for three; life imprisonment for aide, in kidnapping & murder case", 31 March 2025. Official (UAE state news agency).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 Moshe New, "Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan, 28, Murdered by Terrorists in the UAE", Chabad.org, 24 November 2024. Chabad-side.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chabad of the United Arab Emirates, "About Us", chabad.ae, accessed 19 October 2026. Self-published; Chabad-side.
- ↑ "Shluchim Well Received in Mideast Capitals", COLlive, 11 November 2022. Chabad-side.
- ↑ David Ian Klein, "Matzah in Beirut or a Seder in Samarkand? These rabbis are making it happen.", The Forward, 22 March 2021. Press.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 David Gritten, "UAE says three Uzbeks arrested over Israeli-Moldovan rabbi's murder", BBC News, 25 November 2024. Press.
- ↑ Alican Tekingunduz, "Turkish intelligence nabs rabbi murderers, extradites to UAE", TRT World, November 2024. Turkish state broadcaster, citing Turkish security sources.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, "ARIS Rabbis", accessed 19 October 2026. Self-published; mainly Chabad-led.
- ↑ Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States, "UAE", accessed 19 October 2026. Self-published.
- ↑ Association of Gulf Jewish Communities, "Jews in 6 Gulf nations form first association to enhance regional Jewish life", 15 February 2021. Self-published (non-Chabad).