There are relatively few people in the world who can say they have heard a UK Chief Rabbi speak in an Arab country, in fact before last week, that number would have been zero.

But Ephraim Mirvis made history in a number of ways with his trip to the UAE that culminated in a speech at the site of the Arab World's only permanent exhibit honouring the Jewish lives lost in the Holocaust.

At an event last week, organised by Board of Deputies VP and part-time Dubai resident Edwin Shuker, the Chief Rabbi spoke movingly at the Crossroads of Civilisation museum in Dubai, paying tribute to the UAE Jewish community that has blossomed since the Abraham Accords.

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The Chief Rabbi and Sheikh Ahmed Al Mansoori (Olive Media)

After a tour from Ahmad Al Mansoori, the founder of the museum and organiser of the Arab world's first Yom HaShoah commemorations, the Chief Rabbi led a minyan in Ma'ariv alongside Arab worshippers performing the Maghrib Prayer.

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The Sir Ephraim Mirvis and Ahmad Al Mansoori during the Chief Rabbi's visit to the UAE (Photo: Olive Media)

The Chief Rabbi, in the UAE attending the Abu Dhabi forum for peace, said that he was heartened by the fact that during a time when extremism is on the rise and Jews feel threatened across the globe, there is a new community sprouting in the most unlikely of places.

Comparing the Arabian Jewish community to their counterparts in Russia, where Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt has been forced to flee the country, Mirvis also remarked: “On the anniversary of Kristallnacht yesterday, we recalled how synagogues were burnt to the ground. Here in the UAE most of my conversations have been about synagogues being created.

"The Abrahamic family House is being established by the government. It’s a story of growth. It’s going against the trend.”