HY’D: Rabbi Zvi Kogan Found Murdered After Search

With great sadness we report that Rabbi Zvi Kogan, a Chabad Shliach in Abu Dhabi, UAE was found murdered Sunday after authorities launched an extensive search.

The news was broken by Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office Sunday following a day of intense searching by both Israeli and UAE authorities.

As previously reported by CrownHeights.info, Rabbi Kogan, who ran a Kosher Supermarket in Abu Dhabi, was being followed from the Supermarket and disappeared soon after. “We understand that those responsible [for his disappearance] have escaped to Turkey,” an Israeli official told Ynet.

Initially, officials were unsure as to what happened to Kogan, with his abandoned car found in the City of Al Ain, near the Border with Oman and over 90 miles from his home in Abu Dhabi.

After failing to arrive at a scheduled meeting, Kogan’s wife had contacted the Chabad security officer, who appealed to higher authorities about his disappearance.

Kogan, a dual Israeli-Moldovan citizen, had been worked alongside Rabbi Levi Duchman, rabbi to the United Arab Emirates, and other Chabad emissaries for several years in establishing and expanding Jewish life in the Emirates. Among the many accomplishments has been the founding of the first Jewish education center in the Gulf, and making kosher food more available.

In 2021 a Torah scroll being written in the UAE had a letter inscribed by the first sitting Israeli prime minister to visit the country. Kogan was joined by his wife, Rivky, after their marriage in 2022.

Levaya information to be announced.

Shiva information to be announced.

Boruch Dayan Hoemes