World’s Tallest Building Get’s UAE’s First Kosher Restaurant & Other Orthodox Jews in the News

UAE’s First Kosher Restaurant Launches in World’s Tallest Building
Following the United Arab Emirates’ signing of a normalization accord with Israel last Tuesday, the UAE’s first-ever certified kosher restaurant has opened on the ground floor of the luxury Armani Hotel, in Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. The restaurant, Armani/Kaf, is certified glatt kosher by UAE’s Chabad rabbi, and will also provide room service for hotel residents, as well as offer delivery service throughout Dubai.

Indian-Jewish MMA and Kickboxing Champion Set to Make Aliyah
Obed Hrangchal, 26, has already won two gold, seven silver and two bronze national medals in Wushu, Kickboxing, Muay Thai and Karate. An observant Jew and a part of the Bnei Menashe community, he hopes to join the IDF and to represent Israel in international competitions once he finally immigrates to the country, along with his parents and a sister after the High Holidays are over.

Why I Won’t Stand Out as a Jew Anymore
I don’t get bagelled nearly as much these days, not only because I’ve become a Covid recluse. With my shaitel on, I almost pass. I don’t want to stand out anymore. In the current zeitgeist, my headwrap no longer feels ethnic cool with a touch of the divine. Instead, it makes me a moving target.

The Newest Fusion Cuisine: Kosherati
Elli Kriel is prepping her kitchen for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. A practicing Orthodox Jew, she’s testing out a Challah bread recipe infused with fragrant orange saffron and honey, and a honey cake recipe using dates, saffron, and cardamom, melding longstanding recipes with spices well-loved in her own city: Dubai. The result is traditional Jewish food infused with rich Emirati flavors — or, as Kriel calls it, “Kosherati.”

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