Yves Oschinsky, President of the Coordinating Committee of Jewish Organisations in Belgium (CCOJB), has written an op-ed in La Libre about the need to protect religious freedom and Jewish life in Belgium.
“The recent indictment by the Antwerp Public Prosecutor’s Office of two mohelim, the circumcisers in the Jewish religion, has thrown the entire Jewish community in Belgium into turmoil and has left it in complete incomprehension and deep concern.
How is it possible to undermine the age-old, millennia-old practice of circumcision? It is inconceivable to call into question a religious act whose practice has existed openly in our country since time immemorial, long before Belgium’s independence.
Especially since circumcision performed by mohelim, who are invested with a religious authority that makes the circumcision religiously valid and who are very thoroughly trained on a technical level, is carried out in all Jewish families with a male baby, whether they are religious, observant or secular.
What is therefore at stake is clearly the future of the Jewish community in Belgium, as the questioning of circumcision touches the very foundations of Jewish life.
When questioned on this issue during a ceremony held on 6 May in Antwerp to commemorate the victory of 8 May 1945, the Prime Minister delivered a strong statement: “if Jews no longer have their place in Belgium, then I no longer have my place either.” He stressed the need to seek conciliation rather than polarisation and the fuelling of tensions.
The controversy surrounding this issue today is not antisemitic in nature, but the absence of a solution would lead to a mass exodus of the Jewish community, which would constitute a resounding failure, both nationally and internationally, of Belgium’s policy on the preservation of Jewish life.
It is a mistake to approach circumcision solely from a restrictive medical angle, when it is essentially a religious act arising from religious freedom protected by the Belgian Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.
Moreover, Maxime Prévot, responding to criticism from his Israeli counterpart in foreign affairs, stressed that religious freedom will never be called into question in our country and that our Constitution protects it.
Yet it is solely from a medical perspective that the Antwerp Public Prosecutor’s Office is pursuing proceedings against the mohelim, without any reference to religion, accusing them of illegally practising medicine and of having committed intentional assault and battery, with premeditation, against minors. And yet there were no blows, no injuries, no damage, no complaints from alleged victims initiated by their legal representatives… None of this.
It is therefore clear that circumcision must be considered through the lens of religious freedom and not the narrow and debatable lens of health, such that governmental responsibility is at the very least shared and falls primarily under the Minister of Justice and Religious Affairs.
The Minister of Health considers that he cannot take any initiative while the judicial case is ongoing. It is difficult to understand this position, when urgency requires extinguishing the fire. In other, far more fundamental social matters, such as abortion or end-of-life issues, did we wait for all legal proceedings to be exhausted? Of course not.
Nevertheless, solutions are being proposed to the Government, without any intention of interfering with the judiciary, in respect of the separation of powers.
The President of the Central Jewish Consistory of Belgium proposes, should guarantees be required regarding the technical competence of mohelim, the creation within the Consistory of a commission composed of doctors, urologists and paediatricians, empowered to approve mohelim.
Certification of mohelim already exists in some neighbouring countries – even though ritual circumcision is not prohibited in any country – and the proposed solution is serious and reasonable.
We may hope that confidence will be placed in our political authorities to swiftly establish a solution in a spirit of calm.”
