Rabbi Zvi Kogan, the Chabad rabbi who was murdered in the United Arab Emirates last week, was a gregarious and kind person who had an infectious smile, recalled Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, the Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Council of the Emirates, a representative body of Jews living in the UAE.
Rabbi Kogan was abducted on Nov. 21. His body was found about 150 kilometres from Dubai a few days later. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the death of the 28-year-old Israeli, “an abhorrent antisemitic terrorist attack.”
“The State of Israel will use all means, and will deal with these murderers, and those who dispatched them, to the fullest extent of the law. None of them will get away,” Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting on Nov. 24.
Three Uzbek nationals have been arrested and charged in his death, the UAE has said.
Rabbi Sarna knew the young Chabad rabbi well. A native of Montreal, he divides his time between New York—as the executive director of the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at New York University—and Abu Dhabi, where he advises the Abrahamic Family House, a multi-faith complex that houses a mosque, a church and a synagogue.
Rabbi Kogan “was one of the most kind-hearted people I knew,” he told The CJN in an interview. “The home he and Rivky created welcomed so many people who were looking for a sense of community. He had such an infectious smile.”
He recalled the first time he had a long conversation with Rabbi Kogan, when they were on a flight together from New York, heading to the UAE.
“We just talked and talked and talked. He was so easy to talk to. He was just amazing at forming connections with people,” Rabbi Sarna said.
“We talked about his spiritual journey from growing up in a haredi home in Israel, his decision to do the army, his decision to embrace the Hasidic way of life and ultimately the Chabad way of life, which he found to be so beautiful and inspiring and then ultimately how he found his way to a life of giving in the United Arab Emirates,” Rabbi Sarna recalled.
Rabbi Kogan moved to the UAE in 2020 where he began working with Chabad. Most recently, one of his duties was managing a kosher grocery store in Dubai.
In 2022, he married Rivky Spielman, and she joined him in Abu Dhabi, where she worked in the Jewish school and the couple hosted large Shabbat dinners, Chabad media reported. Rivky is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, Chabad emissaries who were murdered by terrorists in Mumbai in 2008.
An online fundraiser for Rivky Kogan raised over $800,000 (USD) by midday Tuesday.
Jared Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump—along with brother Josh Kushner—have said on social media that they are donating $2 million (USD) to Chabad in the UAE. Jared, the former senior adviser to Donald Trump, brokered the 2020 Abraham Accords, which established diplomatic relations between the Emirates and Israel.
Between about 3,000 and 5,000 Jews currently live in the Emirates and trade between the two countries has been strong.
Since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023 and the ongoing war in the region, Jewish life has been “lower-key,” Rabbi Sarna said.
“In the year after the Abraham Accords, there were public concerts and it was fairly easy to find Jewish events and those could be celebrated in public, like for example in hotels. Now it’s just out of caution, there aren’t as many large gatherings.”
In the past year, Jewish celebrations have been smaller and less public, Rabbi Sarna said. He had taken to wearing a baseball cap, nstead of a kippah or hat.
The Abrahamic Centre has continued to host weekly Shabbat services, Passover seders and bar mitzvahs because it is in a “highly secure area,” Rabbi Sarna said.
“Not all aspects of Jewish life are able to function at that level.”
But the UAE remains a safe place for Jews. “These measures were precautionary, not reactive.”
The attack on Rabbi Kogan “is not something the community could foresee,” he said.
“That’s one of the things that’s so nightmarish about this, that Jews the world over knew the UAE to be a safe place. And the fact, frankly, that the UAE has not only been able to identify but also arrest the perpetrators in such a fast timeline, is extraordinary. It’s a testament to how even if something happens, which is rare, that they’re able to apprehend the perpetrators.”
Jews have continued to come to the Emirates for business in the last year, Rabbi Sarna said. Dubai’s airport has also become a popular place for Israelis to connect through, as flights to Israel have been limited due to the war.
Rabbi Sarna was in Abu Dhabi a week ago, participating in an interfaith conference that brought together social service agencies from around the world to discuss the safety of children. “It was beautiful,” he said about the conference. “It was just so devastating to come back and hear the news over the weekend about Zvi.”
Rabbi Kogan’s murder has shaken Chabad emissaries around the world.
“We are deeply grieved and appalled by the heinous murder of a fellow Chabad Rabbi in the United Arab Emirates,” read a letter sent by Rohr Chabad Student Network of Ottawa. Similar letters were sent by other Chabad centres in Canada.
“There is a worldwide effort to delegitimize and destroy the Jewish people in Israel and everywhere and this is not a time to stand by. When you see Jew hatred in your child’s school or in the community or wherever you have influence, we must stand up to it today,” continued the letter. “Rabbi Kogan’s life was taken because he is a Jew and a representative of the Jewish People.”
Because Rabbi Kogan managed a kosher grocery store, some Chabad centers have suggested that Jews learn more about keeping kosher as a mitzvah in his memory.
The Jewish community in UAE is experiencing a combination of emotions, Rabbi Sarna said. “Right now, of course, people are experiencing fear. But ultimately, there is a longer-term instinct to rebuild and build back stronger.
“What we’re going to see is a tremendous amount of resolve and inspiration that will come from people reflecting on Zvi’s life and the values that he embodied and wanting to continue the work that he was doing.”
