Police pictured at an Anderlecht supporters village at the Atomium, before the final of the âCroky Cupâ Belgian soccer cup, âŚ
by Ailin Vilches Arguello
According to a police report, the searches were ordered by a judge following a complaint filed in 2023 by Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Friedman â an anti-Zionist activist previously accused of Holocaust denial â against Eckstein and other mohels within the Jewish community.
In his complaint, Friedman accused six mohels of endangering infants by performing the metzitzah bâpeh ritual, in which the mohel uses his mouth to suction blood from the circumcision area.
However, Eckstein and other rabbis, along with parents of children circumcised by them, have denied such accusations, insisting that they do not perform this practice.
In Antwerp, Friedman is known for publicly criticizing several customs that are important to ultra-Orthodox Jews, who represent the majority of the cityâs 18,000 Jewish residents.
âCircumcision is much more than a key tenet of Judaism,â the letter read. âIt is what defines the Jewish male, a religious commandment.â
âIt represents a core pillar of our faith and a practice carried out over millennia without incidents by meticulous and highly-trained mohalim,â it continued.
