Jews have been living and gathering in the United Arab Emirates for at least a decade. In the aftermath of the signing of the Abraham Accords in August 2020, the community has seen tremendous growth and international attention. Much like the general population in the UAE, the Jewish community is almost entirely expats who have relocated to the UAE from all over the world and represent dozens of nationalities.

In December 2020, Reva Gorelick traded views of the Brooklyn Bridge for the Burj Khalifa in Dubai to work with the diverse and growing Jewish community in the UAE. She looks forward to sharing the unique story of the newest Jewish community in the Arab world with you.

Home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world, Tunisia’s location in the middle of the Mediterranean brought many Jews there throughout history, including Italian, Polish, Amazigh, and Andalusian Jews and, of course, Jews from Jerusalem. Our Tunisian guide, Rafram Chaddad, is a visual artist born on Djerba island in south Tunisia to a Jewish family who dates back to the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem. Rafram’s family left Tunisia for Jerusalem when he was 3 years old. In the last six years, Rafram has been based back in Tunis. Today, Tunisia has around 2,000 Jews, most of them living in Djerba island and the rest in Tunis, the country’s capital.

Join Rafram to explore Tunisia’s Jewish history, including a virtual visit to the Alghriba synagogue, built 2,700 years ago and the oldest active temple in the world today. Jews lived in Carthage during the time the temple was built and continuously through present day.

A trading post between Europe and India from the 1890s to the 1950s, Bahrain was a hub for newcomers and people looking for work. It also boasts one of the smallest Jewish communities in the world with 50 members living in the country today, and is home to the only indigenous Jews in the Gulf. The Bahrain Jews are unique in that they are integrated as Bahrains and even hold government positions. Join local community organizer Ebrahim Nonoo as he gives you an insider’s look into the Jewish heritage of the small Arab archipelago. Ebrahim, whose family were all born in Bahrain, traces his lineage back to Iraqi grandparents who left Iraq to start a new life in a land of opportunities. His grandfather came to Bahrain in the early 1900s and started off as a baker, then moved on to taking the silver threads out of discarded clothing and melted those down to make silver bars. Ebrahim is excited to share the Jewish history of his homeland with you as well as comment on the recent Abraham Accords between Bahrain and Israel and what that means to the small Jewish community there. No need to bring your passport, just virtually hop on the Hot Air Zoom Balloon and take a flight over to Bahrain!

Rabbi Levi Glitsenstein was born in the warm and beautiful city of Eilat, Israel. He received his education in Israel and at the rabbinical collage of NY. Nine years ago, Rabbi Levi joined the team of the Alaska Jewish Campus and Museum, a home for Jewish life, history and culture in Alaska. Serving the growing Jewish community.
Alaska was purchased from the Russian empire only 154 years ago but the Jewish contribution for the developing of Anchorage and Alaska in general is remarkable. in fact, the first mayor of Anchorage was Jewish and more so the idea to purchase Alaksa was a Jewish idea. I’m looking forward to share with you many interesting facts and stories about Jewish life in Alaska including the heroic humanitarian rescue of fifty thousand Jewish refugees from Yemen to the Jewish homeland by none other than Alaska Airlines.