By Yoni Kempinski – Arutz Sheva
Ari Katz, a friend of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who was murdered in the United Arab Emirates, tells Arutz Sheva – Israel National about the tense days surrounding Rabbi Zvi’s disappearance.
Ari and Rabbi Kogan last communicated on Thursday afternoon, ahead of his visit to Dubai in about a month. Ari did not receive any response about his question on the dates that Zvi would be in Dubai, but this did not seem suspicious to him. Towards evening, Rabbi Kogan’s wife began to worry.
“On Friday, he didn’t show up for work and it started to become a little clearer that something was wrong. They contacted the embassy in Israel and senior officials at the Chabad House and local police, and then started calling people in Dubai and Israel to see if anyone knew anything,” he says.
He notes that “no one thought of a nationalist event. Until Shabbat, there was talk that maybe by Shabbat he would show up. As an ambulance driver, I walked around with a phone and I received a message on Saturday morning from someone there who still hadn’t found him talking about a nationalist-motivated incident and the possibility of a kidnapping.”
At this stage, Katz says, it’s still hard to believe that this is real. As someone who has been to Dubai more than once and has never felt a sense of fear there, and the community there also feels safe, things did seem far off, but “when Shabbat ended, we were flooded with messages,” he says. The family had not yet received clear notification and rumors were everywhere. Until Sunday morning, Ari still waited for another announcement.”
Ari says that despite the proximity to Iran, Rabbi Zvi never felt fear. In the past, he served in the IDF and fought to be a combat soldier. Fear did not motivate him. Other than that, the UAE has instilled and instills a sense of security in its visitors. “Many Israelis go there and for them Dubai is a second home, whether for business or for family experiences. We also had a plan to move there. Life there was calm and quiet.”
Can this difficult event bring about change? Ari believes that for the time being it is difficult to accept the incident and the details, and internalize its implications. “It’s something unclear. We don’t know how to perceive it.”
Ari goes on to talk about how Rabbi Zvi ran the Chabad House: “His whole life involved devotion to people. He would be there for them whenever they called. From his first day in Dubai, after being an emissary in several places around the world, he felt that his mission was there. He told me a few weeks ago that there was someone who photographed the kosher supermarket, from where his surveillance began. This supermarket was much needed by Jews who come to Dubai, and as far as he’s concerned, if Zvi knew that he would have to sacrifice his life for this supermarket, he would have done it anyway.”
About their friendship, Ari says: “Zvi is a man who fought for others to be happy. He had a magnetic joie de vivre. There’s something magnetic about his personality. He pushed people to be happy, he helped them and spread light everywhere. If Zvi had known that he was giving his life for the mission in Dubai, he would have done it today again.”
I met Zvi in israel in 2021, in between his trips to Dubai. He was an incredibly learned Yid, who loved Torah, teaching Torah, and spreading yiddishkeit. He was a good friend to all who met him, always full of life.