When Chestnut Hill resident Beth Ann Margolis Rupp tells the story about the time someone felt her forehead to look for horns after they learned that she was Jewish, she has more humor than resentment in her voice. 

Rupp, current executive director of the secular humanistic Jewish community Folkshul, was living in Abu Dhabi at the time. Her architect husband David Rupp had been hired to consult on the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza. He was later commissioned to build the Louvre Abu Dhabi, a replica of the Paris museum that opened to the public in 2019, so the family wound up living there for nine years. 

Those years of living as a Jewish woman in a conservative Arab country reinforced her lifelong belief in the virtue of tolerance, her pursuit of inclusion, and her commitment to the Talmud’s teachings on the value of all humanity. And these things, she said, all drive her current commitment to Folkshul, a secular and inclusive community that brings the values of the Jewish culture to its work on social justice  - but leaves religious orthodoxy behind. 

“We were part of an evolving society,” she explained. “It takes time, education, leadership and courage to change and accept what is strange, different and outside of what you might think is true.”

And while the prevailing attitude toward Jews was not great, she said, she found herself appreciating much of the culture. 

“Yes, there were many times I kept private my religion or my nationality. We could not put a mezuzah on the outside of the door, for instance. It was on the inside,” she said. “But I felt at home in the chaos of Cairo and Abu Dhabi. The parks are full of children, and children are adored. It felt good. I really liked it.”

Abu Dhabi, is one of seven semi-autonomous city-states that make up the United Arab Emirates, sits on about one-tenth of the world's oil. It is one of the richest cities in the world.

While living there, Rupp worked in the American Community School and founded a series of workshops, “Living and Learning in the Middle East.” She also consulted with New York University, which has a satellite school there, and was a research associate for the Institute for International and Civil Society. 

The country is clearly taking steps to move into the 21st century, she said, building cultural institutions, inviting Western professors to teach and even establishing full diplomatic relations with Israel in 2020. 

According to Rupp, a new generation of leaders, including the new president Mohammed bin Zayed, understand that the world’s response to climate change means they should start weaning their economy off fossil fuels. 

“I met some very progressive thinking people there,” Beth said. “They want to drive their economy. I was privileged to know UAE nationals.They want to turn their country, which had become so dependent on oil, into a knowledge economy and cultural understanding.”

For instance, Rupp said, the government supported the writing and publishing of the coffee table book “Celebrating Tolerance,” to which Beth contributed. The cover has dozens of attractive faces of men and women of many skin tones and ethnicities. They even had famed wildlife protector Jane Goodall come to speak at a conference, she said. 

All of which describes a country that is trying to change, she said. 

 “Islam is the official religion,” said Beth, “but things have changed. Today, there are zones with Christian churches. There is even a Jewish zone, which did not exist when I was there, and being Jewish has always been a foundational part of my identity.”

Rupp has a long history of working in social justice, including with the Anti-Defamation League and at Gratz College, a Jewish school in Melrose Park where she taught the subject. She is also co-author of two books that tackle the concept of tolerance: “Last Boy Picked: Surviving Boyhood and Bullying” (2014) and “A World of Difference,” which is a school curriculum for teaching multiculturalism. 

For more information, visit folkshul.org. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com