A proud chassidic Jew captures hearts in Dubai

Photos: Elchanan Kotler, Cyril Bailleul

“How come you’re not wearing a yarmulke like my friend Moshe?”

For the former Israeli government official visiting His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Faisal Al-Qassimi of the United Arab Emirates, this uncomfortable question came as a stumper. There was an awkward pause in the sheikh’s immense meeting room overlooking Dubai.

The sheikh was asking this question because the day before, he’d met Rabbi Moshe Shapoff, a cheerful 51-year-old Brooklyn-born Karlin-Stoliner chassid, who was in Dubai as part of an American-Israeli business delegation. It was an opportune meeting, not just for the sheikh, and not just for Moshe Shapoff.

As Reb Moshe recounts the story, it’s clear why he made such an impression on the sheikh. With his unassuming demeanor, ready smile, and ability to form an easy rapport with colleagues across the board, Moshe Shapoff is a worthy ambassador for Klal Yisrael. Weeks afterward, he’s still amazed by the episode, and by the unusual relationship that was to follow.

“I don’t look for publicity, that’s not my nature,” says Moshe. “I’m a simple person, with nothing to hide. People today think that you have to lower your religious standards to go into the business world. But really, you can just be yourself, be who you are, and you can’t lose in the long run. All these Israelis were coming up to me afterwards, saying, ‘Oh, Moshe, how did you do that?’”

Warm Welcome

Before moving to Israel two decades ago (today he lives with his family in Givat Ze’ev outside Jerusalem), Moshe had been connected to Rav Moshe Weinberger’s Aish Kodesh kehillah in Woodmere and still refers to Rav Weinberger as his rebbi. He has formed other notable connections over the years, having learned in Jerusalem’s Yeshivas Torah Ore for many years where he became a close talmid of Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg ztz”l. He has served for six years as a gabbai for Rav Shlomo Bussu (a noted grandson of the Baba Sali, profiled in “Time to Shine the Light,” Issue 704), and has worked in promoting education programs for chareidim seeking to enter the Israeli workforce at Lomda-Campus Strauss. Through it all, he has remained a devoted chassid of the Karlin-Stoliner Rebbe, and has been involved in numerous projects and initiatives within his chassidus.

Several years ago, Moshe Shapoff joined the investor relations department for TR Capital Management, a US fund specializing in buying bankruptcy claims from companies, established by his close friend Terrel (Tzuriel) Ross of Woodmere. Because of the rise in bankruptcies caused by COVID-19, the fund had lately attracted the interest of overseas investors, leading Moshe to become involved in the world of “family office investment summits.”

“Family offices” are private wealth management advisory firms that serve ultra-high-net-worth investors. They differ from traditional wealth management shops in that their services are targeted to affluent individual families, formulating plans for future generations. These family offices periodically offer their clients “investment summits” — essentially small, exclusive conferences where funds like TR Capital Management can make a focused pitch.

Sir Anthony Ritossa is well-known in the world of investment summits, organizing very large events in both Dubai and Monaco that bring in family offices, businessmen, and dignitaries from all over the world. Moshe Shapoff got his introduction to this rarefied atmosphere when Ritossa had invited TR Capital Management to previous summits in the last couple of years. He formed a close friendship with Ritossa as a result.

Three months ago, following the Abraham Accords, Ritossa organized a special summit for his clients from the various royal families that make up the UAE’s ruling class. At this summit, to be held in Dubai, TR Capital would be meeting with local aristocracy. Ritossa made sure Moshe was invited as well, and as it happened, the Karlin-Stoliner chassid would be the only one attired in the dress of a certain other aristocracy.