The Great Synagogue of Europe, formerly known as the Great Synagogue of Brussels (french: Grande synagogue de Bruxelles; nl, Grote Synagoge van Brussel), is the main synagogue in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

which was dedicated as a focal point for European

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

s in 2008. The building was designed in 1875 in a Romanesque-

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

style by the architect Désiré De Keyser and constructed in 1878. It is located at 32 Rue de la Régence in Brussels. The synagogue survived the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

in which 25,000 Belgian Jews died. Its chief rabbi is Albert Guigui and there are approximately 15,000 persons of Jewish faith in the city (as of 2008).New status for Brussels synagogue

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

2008-06-04 On Rosh Hashanah, 18 September 1982, the synagogue was attacked by a man with a submachine gun, seriously wounding four people. The attack has been attributed to the

Abu Nidal Organization The Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) is the most common name for the Palestinian nationalist militant group Fatah – The Revolutionary Council (''Fatah al-Majles al-Thawry''). The ANO is named after its founder Abu Nidal. It was created by a spli ...

. It was dedicated as the "Great Synagogue of Europe" on 4 June 2008 by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

José Manuel Barroso and two of Europe's leading rabbis who signed a document of dedication. The ceremony also involved singing by the European Choir and the reading of a "Prayer for Europe." The prayer wished for EU leaders to act justly in creating a "spiritual union" and to ask for happiness for European citizens.Runner, Philippa (2008-06-04
Barroso to inaugurate European synagogue
EU Observer The act was of a more political nature, as in the 19th century, responding to the

Age of Enlightenment The Age of Enlightenment or the Enlightenment; german: Aufklärung, "Enlightenment"; it, L'Illuminismo, "Enlightenment"; pl, Oświecenie, "Enlightenment"; pt, Iluminismo, "Enlightenment"; es, La Ilustración, "Enlightenment" was an intel ...

, Great Synagogues were built in many capitals of Europe to show that Jews were full and free citizens. This is something the Jewish community now wished to show at a European level. It is hoped that the building will become a focus for Judaism in Europe, as

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

is for Roman Catholics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Synagogue Of Europe Jews and Judaism in Brussels Synagogues in Belgium Religious buildings and structures in Brussels Romanesque Revival synagogues Abu Nidal attacks Palestinian terrorist incidents in Europe Synagogues completed in 1878 20th-century attacks on synagogues and Jewish communal organizations 1878 establishments in Belgium Byzantine Revival synagogues

See also

References