US EditionShock And Outrage In Antwerp As Police Confiscate Mohalim's Knives, Open Investigation
- On Wednesday morning, authorities in Antwerp conducted searches at the residences of multiple mohels, confiscating their circumcision instruments as part of an ongoing investigation.
- The raids followed a 2023 complaint filed by Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Friedman accusing six mohels of endangering infants by practicing metzitzah b'peh, a ritual oral suction during circumcision.
- The searches, ordered by a judge, targeted three private homes including that of Rabbi Aharon Eckstein, who denied performing the criticized ritual and stated police only seized his kit.
- Rabbi Mencahem Margolin and other Jewish leaders condemned the raids as intimidation and violations of religious freedom, with Margolin calling it "yet another red line crossed."
- The incident has heightened legal uncertainty and community outrage in Antwerp's Jewish population, prompting calls for emergency legislation to protect ritual circumcision as a religious practice.
18 Articles
18 Articles
Police raid homes of mohels in Antwerp, in investigation into possible illegal circumcisions
(JTA) — Police in Belgium searched three private homes on Wednesday as part of an investigation into illegal ritual circumcisions, according to local news reports. Two of the homes were in Antwerp’s Jewish Quarter and the third was in the city’s Green Quarter, according to the Belgian news site VRT, which reported that the investigation was initiated in part by a complaint from a member of Antwerp’s Jewish community. Last fall, Moshe Friedman, a…
After circumcision crackdown, Belgian Jews feel 'uneasy, targeted'
Rabbis decry “heavy-handed” police raids on mohels as assault on religious freedom. By World Israel News Staff Belgian police raided the homes of three mohels (Jewish ritual circumcisers) on Wednesday, seizing equipment as part of an investigation into illegal circumcision in the country. While no arrests were made during the raids, which took place in Antwerp’s Jewish Quarter and the nearby Green Quarter, the police action left many local Jews …
The Algemeiner
CrownHeights.info - Chabad News, Crown Heights News, Lubavitch NewsBelgian Police Raid Mohels’ Homes in Antwerp, Sparking Outrage in Jewish Community
Police pictured at an Anderlecht supporters village at the Atomium, before the final of the ‘Croky Cup’ Belgian soccer cup, between Club Brugge and RSC Anderlecht, May 4, 2025. Photo: BELGA/HATIM KAGHAT via Reuters Connect Belgian police raided the homes of several mohels in Antwerp, a northern Belgian city, seizing their circumcision tools after a local anti-Zionist Jewish rabbi filed a complaint — an incident that has sparked outrage within th…
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