Jewish Community of Antwerp
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In Antwerp there are around 20,000 Orthodox Jews, concentrated in the area next to the diamond district. This area is just a few minuted by foot from the Antwerpen central train station. This area is also known as "Jewish Antwerp" (Dutch: Joods Antwerpen). After New York City, London, Bnei Brak and Jerusalem Antwerp is one of the largest communities of Haredi Jews in the world. Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth, who died in 2003, was arguably one of the better known personalities to have been based in Antwerp, though attempts to have a street named after him were not successful.
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[edit] Hasidic Jews
Hasidic Jews form the majority of the Jews in Antwerp. Hasidic movements in Antwerp include:
- Alexander
- Berditchev
- Belz (Belz, Machnovke)
- Bobov
- Chortkov
- Gur
- Lubavitch
- Machzikei HaDas
- Pshevorsk
- Satmar
- Shomrei HaDas
- Shotz
- Skver
- Sanz (Sanz-Sienova, Sanz-Zmigrod, Sanz-Klausenberg)
- Vizhnitz (Vizhnitz Bnei Brak, Vizhnitz New York)
The Pshevorsk movement is centered in Antwerp. The Pshevorsker Rebbe, Rabbi Leibish Leiser, lives in Antwerp. Pshevorsker Jews live mainly in Antwerp, London, and Manchester, and on Jewish Holidays many come to Antwerp. Another Rebbe in Antwerp is the Shotzer Rebbe.
[edit] Non-Hasidic Jews
There is also a small community of non-Hasidic Lithuanian Jews. Furthermore there are organisations of Georgian Jews, a Sephardic synagogue, Secular Jewish organizations, a Progressive Jewish community and many youth groups.
[edit] Schools
A number of Jewish schools are found all over the Jewish district; each religious movement has its own school. There are some bigger girls schools, since girls in general attend to a school specific to their religious background, in contrast to boys who attend yeshiva.
In addition there are some kollelim, where married men can continue their studies after their wedding. The famed Haredi yeshiva Eitz Chaim is in the Wilrijk district, where hundreds of young men from around the world study Talmud and other Jewish texts.
Many synagogues, schools, charities and social groups care for the environment, although this may isolate some in the community from the rest of the Antwerp population. Some Jews in Antwerp speak Yiddish as their mother language and Dutch as a second language.
[edit] Demographics
The Jewish Community in Antwerp has historically been rich, because of its involvement in the diamond trade. Although much of the diamond trade in Antwerp has been taken over by Indians there, it is still an important part of the Jewish community. Because of the large family sizes of Antwerp Jews (the average family has 4.5 children, with many that have more than 10), for many households a "normal" job is not enough, and some live in poverty. Many of the secular Jews have moved to areas outside the central Jewish area of Antwerp.
[edit] See also
- Diamonds as an investment
- Pshevorsk – Hassidic Jewish movement based in Antwerp
- History of the Jews in Belgium
