In recent weeks, former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, together with former Director of Intelligence Analysis for the New York City Police Department, Mitchel D. Silber, and former Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence, David Cohen, were in Belgium on behalf of Ronald Lauder, the President of the World Jewish Congress, to conduct a current assessment of the threat of Anti-Semitism to the diaspora Jewish community in Belgium and several other cities in the EU.
They were hosted by Rabbi Michoel Rosenblum of The European Synagogue Ohel Eliezer, and Director of the EU Jewish Building. The EUJB is the home to many Jewish organizations at the EU Headquarters in Brussels, providing them with a large array of professional services, ranging from office spaces to meeting rooms, networking opportunities to security services, as well as catering high level meetings and functions.
Rabbi Rosenblum brought together a wide range of people, including directors of Jewish organizations, community activists, political personalities, security directors and members of the community. This gave them a real sense of the daily challenges Jews face, living in Belgium and the surrounding countries
Also present at the meeting was Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Director of The EJA, at the forefront of Jewish issues in the EU, as well as Rabbi and Mrs. Avi Tawil of the EJCC, promoting Jewish life at all of the EU Institutions in Brussels.
Commissioner Kelly and the others were very grateful for the tremendous hospitality they were shown and for the insight they gained from the various people they met at the EUJB. They plan to be in contact in the near future.
The Commissioner was also very proud to share he had received Lekach and a bottle of vodka from the Rebbe.
A special thank you to Rabbi Mendy Sharfstein of Lubavitch World headquarters for his assistance in facilitating the meeting.
