Ross Kriel is the president of the community Minyan At The Palm, Jewish community activist and the founder of Kosher Arabia catering
Early life
Kriel was born in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
.
United Arab Emirates
He arrived to
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
in 2013, 2 weeks before
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The Hebrew Bible, biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summe ...
. He and his wife became the first family in the city to keep kosher.
Kriel reacted positively to the signing of the
Abraham Accords
The Abraham Accords are bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain on September 15, 2020. Mediated by the United States, the announcement of August ...
, saying:
“Only a week ago, the things happening today were still a dream, like seeing the Israelis
Israelis (; ) are the Israeli citizenship law, citizens and nationals of the Israel, State of Israel. The country's populace is composed primarily of Israeli Jews, Jews and Arab citizens of Israel, Arabs, who respectively account for 75 percen ...
and Emirati flags flying side by side on the front pages of local newspapers.
“It’s going to be a warm peace.”
Personal life
His wife, Elli (who is of
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
descent), is the head of
Elli's Kosher Kitchen, which was made to accommodate for the
Dietary Needs of Jewish tourists in the Emirates.
The Kriels live in a
villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...
at the Palm.
See also
*
Solly Wolf
Solly Wolf (1949 or 1950 – 4 February 2025) was a British businessman who resided in the United Arab Emirates. He served as the president of the Jewish Community Center of UAE.
Life and career
Early life
Wolf was raised in the English c ...
*
Naum Koen
Naum Koen (Russian: Наум Коен; born 29 June 1981) is an UAE-based Israeli-Ukrainian businessman and philanthropist who is the founder and CEO of NY Koen Group. He was named Honorary Chairman of Beitar Jerusalem B.C., Beitar Jerusalem Bask ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kriel, Ross
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
People from Johannesburg
South African Jews