Why An American Orthodox Rabbi Made His Home in the Arab World

Rabbi Elie Abadie, M.D. joined the Jewish Council of the Emirates (JCE) in 2020 as its senior and resident rabbi. As the Jewish community in the United Arab Emirates experiences dramatic growth from an influx of Jewish tourists from Israel and the West following the historic signing of the Abraham Accords, Rabbi Dr. Abadie provides spiritual leadership to the local community helping to build and grow Jewish life in the Gulf.

Rabbi Dr. Abadie joined the JCE with a vision to create critical Jewish infrastructure for the local community, including a day school, a mikvah, a Beit Din/Jewish court and the Arabian Kosher Certification Agency.

Descending from a distinguished rabbinic lineage, Rabbi Dr. Abadie most recently served in several spiritual leadership roles, including as director of the Jacob E. Safra Institute of Sephardic Studies at Yeshiva University in New York, founder and head of school at the Sephardic Academy of Manhattan, and rabbi of Manhattan East Synagogue. He also served as co-president of Justice for Jews from Arab Countries (JJAC), where he was instrumental in passing a congressional resolution on behalf of Jews from Arab countries to be recognized in negotiations regarding Middle East refugees.

He earned his rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) and is also a practicing medical doctor.

He currently resides in Dubai where he can feel his Jewish roots as well as his Rabbinic Dynastical ones going back generations.