First Kosher Supermarket Opens in the Arab Gulf

By COLlive reporter

Only seven-minute drive from the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest skyscrapper in Dubai, the Jewish community of the United Arab Emirates is opening the Rimon supermarket, the first kosher store in the Gulf States.

Initiated by the Emirates’ Chief Rabbi Levi Duchman and community members, Sonia and Alec Sellem, the store was opened to meet the demand for kosher products by the growing Jewish population in the region, locals and tourists.

“Our great, steadily growing community, regularly enjoys unprecedented support of the UAE government, as well as of the local authorities for over a decade,” says Rabbi Duchman, who has also established the official Kosher agency.

“In order to allow the growing community and the many Jewish visitors to maintain a Jewish and traditional life, we have successfully organized Jewish institutions, and events so that everyone may enjoy Shabbos and other Jewish holidays in a Kosher and quality highest standards, every day and everywhere around the Emirates.”

The Rimon supermarket, offers a wide range of kosher products imported from Israel, Europe and the United States, including premium quality meat products, Kosher Lemehadrin standard, as well as the favorite imported products for Israelis and Jews all around the world.

In addition, every weekend a Jewish food market will be held from all Jewish communities around the world for Jewish residents and visitors of the Emirates, who are looking for warm, kosher home food.

The Jewish community in the UAE, which began to develope about a decade ago, has grown to thousands of families. A variety of Jewish institutions created by Rabbi Duchman and Chabad allows locals and visitors to maintain a traditional lifestyle, including synagogues in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, a Jewish education system, Mikvah, and more.

“The Rebbe has marked Kashrus as one of the most important missions, and thank god, we are witnessing a huge development on the special Chassidic day of 19th of Kislev, allowing many more Jews to eat kosher,” Rabbi Duchmann concluded.