Last week, police carried out a raid on mohalim in Antwerp, where they confiscated milah equipment
Photo: Shutterstock//Mark Heider
IN a crowded field of European countries becoming increasingly hostile toward their Jewish populations, Belgium stands out. Two of its three regions have outlawed shechitah, and its prime minister until February, Alexander de Croo, was one of Israel’s harshest critics on the continent.
Last week, police carried out a raid on mohalim in Antwerp, where they confiscated milah equipment. The strict letter of the law in Belgium stipulates that milah must only be conducted by a licensed medical professional, but the authorities have mostly turned a blind eye until now. The raid came out of the blue, and left the Jewish community deeply shaken.
Conference of European Rabbis leader Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt decried the heavy-handed assault on a tenet as fundamental as bris milah. In an interview with Mishpacha, he acknowledged it was a legal gray zone, but he was unequivocal — the way to deal with this is through constructive engagement with community leaders, not police raids.
Rabbi Goldschmidt believes this is part of a secularist backlash against the growing radical Islamism that’s deeply unnerved Europeans, and it’s the law-abiding, peaceful Jewish community that is bearing the brunt. (As Muslims generally have circumcisions performed by a doctor, this issue doesn’t affect them the same way).
Create a free account to keep reading.
