Greatest Hits: Meet the woman at the centre of Jewish life in Abu Dhabi: Canada's ambassador

The CJN Daily is on vacation this week, so we're rerunning our favourite episodes. This one originally aired Dec. 14, 2021.

This year, an unlikely Hanukkah party was held at the Canada Pavillion of Expo 2020 in Dubai. The emcee for the candlelighting and kosher dinner was Canada's ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Marcy Grossman, a Montrealer who's spent the last three years in the Gulf state.

Grossman has found herself at the centre of Jewish life in the Arab country, embedding herself within a community of about 3,500 Jews—some of whom have literally come out of hiding, as the UAE fleshes out its new formal relationship with Israel, following the signing of the Abraham Accords.

Before she retires from her post in 2022, Grossman joins to discuss life in Dubai and how she feels feels more comfortable as a Jewish woman in the UAE than in many other parts of the world.

What we talked about:

• Read Marcy Grossman's bio at international.gc.ca
• Read her article, "Canada wishes the UAE well on its 50th anniversary", at thenationalnews.com
• Watch videos from the candlelighting ceremony on Instagram from @avivachernick and @marcygrossman

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Zachary Kauffman is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Production assistance by Gabrielle Nadler and YuZhu Mou. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We're a member of The CJN Podcast Network. To learn how to support the show by subscribing to this podcast, please watch this video.