Florida rabbi reports open Jewish life and real peace in Arab nation

Rabbi describes visible Jewish life on the ground—minyanim, kosher food, a mikvah, and a Jewish school—alongside a Holocaust exhibit in Abu Dhabi.

By Shmuli Volkin, Jewish Breaking News

Rabbi Efrem Goldberg, Senior Rabbi of Boca Raton Synagogue, is back from a leadership mission to Dubai and Abu Dhabi with a blunt message: the Middle East isn’t one story, and Israel’s friends in the region deserve to be seen, heard, and strengthened.

On the trip, he met UAE leaders and voices pushing back against ingrained antisemitism, including Loay Alshareef, who says he was raised to hate Jews until real-life encounters rewired everything—and now he advocates openly for Muslim-Jewish ties.

Goldberg also describes visible Jewish life on the ground—minyanim, kosher food, a mikvah, and a Jewish school—alongside a Holocaust exhibit at Abu Dhabi’s Crossroads of Civilization Museum that he calls a powerful rebuttal to denial and distortion.

While Iran-backed terrorists like Hamas and Hezbollah try to poison the region, the UAE is pitching a different model—criminalizing hate speech, investing in coexistence, and urging “peace between people,” not just governments.

Goldberg says Dr. Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi also warned that Israeli internal division weakens the country from within—advice Israel can’t afford to ignore.