DUBAI (VINnews) — Coronavirus restrictions on weddings in Israel have led numerous Israelis to look eastwards towards Dubai which is fast becoming a trendy tourist attraction as well as a favored place for conducting weddings.
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A senior official in Dubai says that local authorities received hundreds of requests recently from Chareidi Jews mainly from Israel and the US who wished to conduct large weddings with hundreds of participants in Dubai. The requesters asked to send rabbis and kashrus supervisors to the emirate in order to prepare the weddings after they are authorized.
הזמר החסידי מוטי שטיינמץ מופיע כעת בשמחת שבע ברכות למרגלות בור׳ג חליפה בדובאי pic.twitter.com/sy0mnK7CIn
— ישראל כהן (@Israelcohen911) December 6, 2020
Chasidic singer Motty Steinmetz sings at a Sheva Brachos near the Burj Khalifa in Dubai
Mohammed Bin Jassem Al-Toami, a resident of the UAE who owns tens of halls and wedding reception areas in Dubai and other emirates, told the Yisrael Hayom newspaper that he had been approached by representatives of large Chasidic groups from Israel and the US who wished to rent his halls for weddings. “I checked with friends from Israel and the US what was being discussed since it involved a lot of money and I was told that groups of religious Jews would arrive en masse. We are willing to do business with whoever wants and will be happy to host weddings, whether they are Muslim, Christian or Jewish as long as the authorities allow it,” Al-Toami added.
Al-Toami said that he also received requests from Israeli Arabs to conduct weddings which he said would be a “big honor to host weddings for the Israeli Arab sector”. However the Israeli Arabs “were put off by the price, but with Chareidim we are in advanced negotiations, and if Dubai stays green we will have many weddings of religious Jews in our wedding reception areas.”
Itzu Yitschak, the director of an Israeli company specializing in videoclips and photography in the Chareidi sector said that he had received tens of requests from people who wished to conduct their children’s weddings in Dubai and wanted to find out prices of accessories. Yitzchak said that “in the next few weeks there will be tens of Chareidi weddings in Dubai.”
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Instead of “Charedi” people scaling back on the horrid trend of oversized, overpriced and wasteful weddings, which is the obvious message from Shamayim via the Covid-19, now comes the “mesirus nefesh” to travel to an Arab country to continue this insanity. Where are the rabbanim? Where are the manhigim? Is this the Charedi way?
The primary function of a Jewish wedding is to establish a bayis ne’eman b’Yisrael. To create (or at least found) this bayis deliberately in artzos hagoyim, just for the sake of inviting more guests, might well backfire.
The whole reason for this peace and allowing Israelis & Jews to UAE is only for the money. That is the only reason for Dubai in the first place – it is the playground of the rich Arabs. They know that Jews spend money and this is exactly what they wanted.
Don’t worry, it will be a matter of time until the UAE authorities will ban Israelis under the pretext of Covid. Then the ultra rich and snobby brats who can’t me moser nefesh like the rest of us will need to make their weddings locally like everyone else.
Everything is so overpriced in Dubai. Where is the money coming from to pay for such simchas, and for the guests to fly to Dubai…..If our Chareidi Yidden have so much money why are there so many poor people hungry and looking for donations. Our yeshivas should be funded like a fancy private school in NYC. Rebbeim should be paid decent salaries, and there should be no one lacking sustenance. Something is askew. This is a real shame. What is going on?