SIDON, Lebanon: Although Rabbi Elie Abadie hasn’t returned to his home country of Lebanon in over 50 years, his Lebanese heritage remains a central part of who he is. His smartphone contains 3,000 Arabic tunes. His mother taught his American wife how to prepare the Lebanese food he adores. Like many people in Lebanon, a former French territory, he communicates with his siblings in a combination of Arabic and French.
Since the majority of Lebanese Jews fled the nation decades ago, the once-thriving community has been virtually forgotten. However, the most recent conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which forced direct talks between Israel and Lebanon, has put them back in the forefront. In exchange for Lebanon’s assistance in locating the bodies of Lebanese Jewish leaders who were kidnaped and murdered during Lebanon’s civil war in the 1980s, Israel last month agreed to free five civilians held by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.
For Lebanese Jews like Abadie, 65, who was born and reared in Beirut to parents who relocated to Lebanon from Syria, the news brought back bitter memories. At the age of ten, Abadie left his birthplace and lived in Mexico for a while. As senior rabbi emeritus of the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf states, he now lives in Dubai.
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