Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, who founded the first Holocaust exhibit in the Arab world at his privately-owned Crossroads of Civilizations Museum in Dubai, met with Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, one of the leading Religious Zionist rabbis in Israel and a member of the Chief Rabbinical Council.
During their meeting, Rabbi Eliyahu spoke of the journey the people of Israel have undergone since the reestablishment of their state. "God runs the world, just as we all understand that the sun does not rise by itself, but God shines for us through the sun, all believers understand this," said Rabbi Eliyahu.
"So too, the process that the people of Israel have undergone over the past 100 years is a divine act. 100 years ago we were scattered among 102 different countries. My mother's grandmother is from Morocco, my grandfather is from Iraq and my wife's grandmother is from Poland, and her father is from Hungary.
Rabbi Eliyahu added: "God wrote in the Torah about a hundred times: if you sin, I will drive you out of the Land of Israel. We did not listen and were out of the Land, God also promised dozens of times that in the end He would gather us from all over the world and bring us back to the Land. He also promised that He would rebuild Jerusalem, He also promised that the land would be a wasteland throughout our exile, and that's how it really was until 100 years ago."
According to him, "We have come back here and it was in full bloom at the height of the blessing. He also promised that whoever will restore us will be blessed in a miraculous manner. It's impossible to understand how we succeeded [without God's intervention], it does not make sense at all. We feel that He is working here in the Land of Israel. Years ago, I wrote a book with 30 things that God promised and which are happening now."
"Sometimes we think that we are heroes, that we are important and wise we always have to remember that what we have is from God, every day, all year round. This is what I am trying to teach to the nation in which we live and also to teach all over the world. We cannot sit back and wait for it to happen. We have to make the effort ourselves. When you know it's from God, you are careful, you are respectful, you are happy. Our meeting is from Him. To be messengers of God is a great privilege," Rabbi Eliyahu concluded.
Al Mansoori agreed with the rabbi's words regarding divine control of the world. "As you said, everything is from God. If we manage to accomplish something, it is a blessing from God."