Sounds strange to leave the holy land of Israel on Passover and head towards an Arab country specifically on this holiday when we were redeemed from being enslaved by the Egyptians for so many years.
I love the land of Israel more than any other place in the world, and wouldn’t replace my homeland for any of the luxuries in any other country around the globe. With that in mind I would like to elaborate on some of my thoughts and feelings regarding my wonderful trip.
I have two sons that live in New York. One married and one engaged. They flew in with the whole family for a Pesach program in Dubai, and I met them there. From the moment I arrived the atmosphere of Royalty was apparent wherever I looked. The high quality of life was visible even in the smallest of matters. I am a driving instructor and spend most of my time on the road. Therefore one of the first luxurious matters that I noticed were the spectacular roads. Smooth cement with no pot hole, and 6 lanes in each direction on most roads and side streets between 2 or 3 lanes. The quality of the vehicles was par excellence, and the driving manners were exquisite. No one beeps their horn and the driving is very relaxed. Rush hour in Dubai merely means that instead of driving 120km the traffic slows down to 70km. But all that is not the beauty of Dubai, rather my first thoughts as I arrived.
The country is lined with gold in almost every corner you look. Beautiful new-age sky scrappers with amazing groomed gardens and lit up areas. Spectacular light shows, and not an ounce of dirt or garbage anywhere. Everything is clean and beautifully designed and set up to make any person who comes feel like they are part of the royal family.
One day during our stay we took a trip to the desert. It was completely fascinating. I closed my eyes and imagined when we left Egypt, so many years ago. It was extremely hot outside and all I could see was sand in every direction. I thought of the heavenly clouds that escorted us throughout the 40 years that we walked through the desert. The flat ground, the constant air-conditioning, the food and all our needs that were met in a place that one cannot exist for very long, especially not a whole nation. From there we went to see the view from a building top were the view was breath taking and magnificent. From that point, the guide explained how a certain part of Dubai called the ‘Palm‘ was created. They basically created an exquisite island in the shape of a palm, in the middle of the ocean. It is something that is hard to describe in words it is so majestic, one has to literally see it with their naked eye to actually catch and grasp what was created in the middle of the water, and in such fine quality. The list goes on and the glamour and the beauty doesn’t cease for a moment. To say that I felt like a queen is besides the point. However, what I want to relay is the feeling of greatness and Royalty that is felt there. Dubai is different from other countries that have money, power or wealth. Even in London where the Royal family resides there isn’t a feeling like there was in Dubai. They built the country in such a way that no matter who you are, you feel wealthy and special there. The quality of life is so high, that one naturally feels happy and content and people are less rude and abrupt. There is a 0% crime rate in Dubai and the relaxed feeling is apparent everywhere.
I went to great lengths to describe all this in order to bring about an important message. We are Jews and we are all sons and daughters of the King of the world. With that in mind, throughout our exiles and troubles, we became broken and despaired, just like we were before we were saved from Egypt. Back then we were chased and persecuted every day, and today as well. Even though we are in our own homeland we are still chased and murdered brutally daily just for being Jewish. We are a nation in its homeland with our King by our side. Our Master, our King is waiting also in pain to return into His Kingdom in The Holy Temple in Jerusalem today. Since life in Israel is so challenging and we are in a constant struggle to survive as a nation among all the wolves of the world, we lose sight of the big picture.
Dubai was so majestic and picturesque that it gave me clarity and strengthened my faith how royal I am as a Jew, and just how beautiful and wonderful the true and final Redemption will actually be. Hashem gave greatness to the world so that His children won’t lose their faith despite the hardships they will go through. When we see what Hashem gave the nation’s of the world, we can just imagine what He is saving for His one and only son, the Jewish people.
And now when I read the text that says that when we left Egypt we left with great wealth, I can very well picture what that meant.
With great faith and hope, I await our full Redemption of the children of Israel that will come very soon please G-d today, and without anymore bloodshed. Amen.
