The ‘first' rabbi of Riyadh talks growing Jewish presence in Saudi Arabia

As headlines in Israel swirl with reports of progress toward a normalization agreement between Jerusalem and Riyadh, one man isn't waiting for peace to become official.

Rabbi Yaakov Israel Herzog is already in Saudi Arabia and watching the local Jewish population emerge from the shadows.

Herzog decided to establish the first Jewish community center in Riyadh to serve the thousands of Jewish expats living there, and appointed himself the "first" rabbi in the Kingdom’s modern history.

“There are many Jewish expats coming to the Kingdom to work,” Rabbi Herzog told i24NEWS, explaining that out of 75,000 Americans working there, about 1 percent are Jewish, and more come from France, UK and South America. 

In total, he said “about 15,000 Jewish people work in the Kingdom on different employment contracts.” After realizing the side of the community, he asked himself: “Who was taking care of the needs of these people?”

“There was nobody there, and there was this perception that it would be forbidden to do something like this in Saudi Arabia,” he told i24NEWS about embarking on the project.

“After I aligned myself with what I want to do, and the current situation in Saudi Arabia and Islam in general, I realized that with the Jewish people they won’t have a problem.” 

Rabbi Herzog told us about the different services he aims to provide as the spiritual leader, such as leading prayer services and hosting holiday meals, and the limits he encountered.

"Of course on Passover we don't have wine at our Seder, we have grape juice," Herzog said about the alcohol ban in the Kingdom. “We basically looked at the current Saudi law book, and we tested the water.”

It’s now the center’s second year of activity operating out of a rented space where they hold prayers and holiday meals, and conduct general outreach. Rabbi Herzog added “there’s a nice turnout. We didn't reach everybody yet, but the more people attend, the word gets around.”

As for the next steps, he said they “want to build a proper center, a proper Mikveh ritual bath, a synagogue, a day school for children, and whatever a Jewish person in the kingdom would need in order to have a fulfilling Jewish life.”

“When I’m in Saudi Arabia this is the way I walk around,” the Chabad rabbi explained, referring to his traditional ultra-Orthodox Jewish garb. “Everywhere I go, in Sunni areas, Shia areas, all over the country, the Saudis are very welcoming to other cultures, to other religions. They have a very deep knowledge of who the Jewish people are, what the Jewish people are all about.”

“When they mention that we have common enemies, I try to bring them back to the point that we are family. That’s the main thing and that’s what we need to focus on,” Rabbi Herzog told us. 

“Enemies can change, but family is family, and our mutual rich history and genetics is what brings us together. Thank God they have been very welcoming and very respectful,” he concluded.