History of The Jews in Antwerp - Present

Present

In recent years many of the younger generation of secular Jews have moved away from the crowded city center. There has also been small but steady growth of Orthodox satellite communities in suburbs such as Edegem, Wilrijk and Brasschaat. This may cause the Antwerp community to seem overwhelmingly Haredi to the casual observer. After New York, London and Paris, Antwerp is one of the largest communities of Haredi Jews outside Israel.

The religious community is represented by two religious councils, known as kehillas:

• The Israëlitische Gemeente van Antwerpen Shomre Hadass; primarily oriented toward the Modern Orthodox community. It is led by Chief Rabbi David Moshe Lieberman. This council also espouses the values of religious Zionism and maintains a pro-Israel stance in community affairs.
• The Orthodoxe Israëlitische Gemeente Machsike Hadass represents the ultra-orthodox Haredi community.

The late Rabbi Chaim Kreiswirth, was the Chief Rabbi of the Machzikei Hadass kehilla for many years and was widely regarded as a pre-eminent scholar of Talmud. He died in 2003 and was replaced by Rabbi Rubinstein of Israel, who died a few months after being nominated to the post. Since December 2010, the position has been filled by Rabbi Aaron Schiff, who is a scion of Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk, founder of the eponymous Chassidic dynasty. Rabbi Schiff, a follower of the current grand Rabbi of Belz (Hasidic dynasty), Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach (II) is an alumnus of the Erlau yeshiva in Jerusalem and was previously the Rabbi of the local Alexander synagogue.

An essential difference between these two organizations is apparent in the Shomrei Hadas' alignment with religious Zionist doctrine, which the Machzikei Hadass rejects.