Monday 19th April | 6pm UK time
Join us to hear Mark Halawa‘s incredible story of growing up as a Muslim in Kuwait, to discovering his Jewish roots years later.
Mark Halawa was born and raised in Kuwait to an Arab Muslim family of Palestinian descent. All along, Mark knew his maternal grandmother was Jewish, but never thought this would make him a Jew.
In 2004, while a University student in Canada, Mark came across a popular Rabbi and professor of philosophy from Harvard, Dr Yitzchak Block, who informed him that by Jewish law he is actually Jewish, effectively making Mark the very enemy he grew up learning to hate.
Mark’s curiosity brought him to start learning about Judaism. A few years later, an impactful trip to Poland and a visit to Israel in 2009, made him fall in love with the Jewish people.
In 2010, Mark decided to start full-time studies at Yeshiva, then make Israel his home and has since become a liaison between Israeli and Middle Eastern businesses, and an outspoken advocate for Israel. Mark and his wife currently live in Jerusalem with their daughter.