In the shadow of the UAE’s elaborate Grand Mosque and its white marble spires, interfaith representatives from across the world are gathered to listen to, of all people, a rabbi. 

It is a scene that would have seemed unlikely a few years ago, and at times impossible. In the ballroom of Abu Dhabi’s Ritz Carlton, among the chandeliers, dates and gold, Chief Rabbi Mirvis made an unprecedented address to the audience of hundreds of Islamic scholars and leaders.

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Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis at the Abu Dhabi forum for Peace

The first UK chief rabbi to ever visit the Emirates, Rabbi Mirvis was welcomed to the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum by its president, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Bayyah, a revered Islamic scholar. 

Addressing the crowd in a mixture of Biblical Hebrew, Arabic and English, Rabbi Mirvis called on leaders of all faiths to “achieve the unachievable” and build on the historic peace brought about by the Abraham Accords two years ago. 

“I am only standing here before you at this very moment, thanks to the courage of great and outstanding leaders who have reached for the stars and who have said we can achieve peace, we do believe in tolerance, we do want to have love, we want to reach beyond the boundaries of our own faith.”

He also urged those in attendance to remember the common threads linking their faith - namely Abraham. 

“All of us here, are children of Abraham, our father…Abraham was absolutely committed to his own family, his own community, his own religion, and because of that, he was respected outside of his religion, because he believed that he had a religion for the sake of every single human being on earth, and, as a result, everybody declared this is a prince of God. And certainly, that is the very tone and atmosphere within this hall right now.”

The peace forum, whose guests wore an intriguing mix of religious dress from across the world, is an annual event that initially brought together imams and sheiks from the Muslim world and has evolved into a multi-religious chorus of leaders calling for peace. 

The Chief Rabbi’s speech was notable in its straightforward, businesslike tone. Addressing the elephant in the room, he made a plea to those assembled to ensure the positive messages of love, tolerance and mutual respect actually made a difference to all Muslims, Jews and Christians, not just their leaders. 

He said: “ We must face the challenge, because where we are up to is still not good enough. Right now, we have harmony amongst the leaders and it has to filter down to grass roots as well… It is good and it is pleasant for brothers to sit in this hall in peace and unity, but we want this to happen amongst all Jews amongst all Christians amongst all Muslims, all the children of Abraham to enjoy that which is good and that which is pleasant.”

This sentiment was echoed by the UAE’s first Chief Rabbi, Brooklynite Levi Duchman. Speaking to the JC, Rabbi Duchman said: “What the Abu Dhabi Peace Forum does, is gives opportunity to the religious leaders that are on the ground that are interacting with a small congregations to meet people different to them.

“They're gonna go back home to their cities, and they're gonna say, well, we met rabbis, we met the chief rabbi of UK and it makes a, tremendous impact because it's going into like small communities with other people. It's not just, it's actually going into the people, for the people by the people.”

Chief Rabbi Mirvis addresses the Abu Dhabi forum for peace, calling on all Abrahamic religions to work together as brothers pic.twitter.com/db01gUu6Mg

— The Jewish Chronicle (@JewishChron) November 8, 2022

The Chief Rabbi’s speech, the first delivered in English, was praised by other Jewish leaders in attendance, with Dr. Ari Gordon, the Director of Muslim-Jewish Relations for the American Jewish Committee telling the JC that Rabbi Mirvis’ remarks were powerful in reminding Jews and Muslims alike of our history of collaboration and coexistence, but with a very Jewish spin.

He said: “The Chief Rabbi talked about our shared ancestor, but in a way with integrity to the Jewish aspect of that story. He quoted the Bible not the Qu’ran, the Midrash not the New Testament, he shared a uniquely Jewish vision of Abraham, but one that also had a universal message and appeal. 

 “The name Abraham Accords was a brilliant turn of phrase, it tells people that we’re all one family, that our disputes were a family dispute and even though there’s shared values and common identities and backgrounds, sometimes families fight. 

“What we have now is a return to our shared mission to live out the mission of Abraham, our shared forefather.”