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Right now, I'm standing in the heart of a modern European city. But this is also the home to some of the most conservative Hasidic Jews in the world. They don't use the Internet, rarely talk to outsiders, and still dress like it's the 1800s. Most of them came here for the diamond trade. That's $15 million. Today, around 30,000 Hasidic Jews live in the city center, blended into the local population while following strict religious customs. I'm about to dive into their unique way of life and learn how their traditions shape the way they see society.
My friend Raphael, who's a member of the community, is going to help me enter their hidden world. The last 10, 15 years, the Hasidic community has expanded tremendously. It grew very big. Sure. So, if you walk today on the street, you'll see a lot of Hasidim, you know, on bikes, on foot, you'll see them everywhere. The beauty, what you have in Antwerp, it's a warmth that even if you're not religious, everyone has that here, and that's actually unique to Antwerp. So are you Hasidic?
Yes, from my grandparents, we are Hasidic. So, now here, we're entering the Square Mile. It's called the Diamond Square Mile. Our first stop will be by a synagogue here. It's a Portuguese synagogue. So, in 1980, there was a terrorist attack here. The big miracle was that it was Simchat Torah. That's after Sukkot. I was very young at the time, but I remember my father telling me he had his office right across the synagogue, and there was actually glass pieces in his chair.
Oh, man. The terrorists did not take in consideration, luckily, that it was a Jewish festival, and therefore the casualties were very limited. There was no Internet back then. They couldn't look it up. Exactly. So, this is the synagogue. That is a beautiful, beautiful. We'll ask him everything but here you can see here, let me show you. Wow, this is so cool. They rebuilt it and as you can see, the whole street now, besides police cars, it's closed off to the public.
Yeah, we're just standing in front of the synagogue, and there's 1, 2, 3, 4 police cars. I can see. This synagogue is incredibly beautiful. Can just feel how old it feels in here. It's just very rustic and definitely have a connection to it. So, synagogues like this, when I sit in them from all over the world. Tell me a little bit about how long have you been the rabbi here? And tell me about the community.
I visited Jewish communities all around the world. But what is special about the Jews of Antwerp? Because Antwerp is so diverse. Do you feel that there's tension between non-Jews? And I'm not only referring to October 7th and what happened, I'm just talking about in general. There's so many different faces here. There must be some tension.
When I was studying in my high school in the United States, it was the first time in my life that I saw a Jewish plumber, a Jewish electrician. When I was growing up in Antwerp, that didn't exist. I was like, "Wow, look at this. There's a guy that's an electrician and he has a beard." What are some of the biggest struggles that the community faces? You need to stun the animal before now to have kosher meat in, uh, Belgium now. So, you take it from other countries? France, United Kingdom. Yes.
We, as Jews, we believe the way it was thousands of years ago. It shouldn't change anything. There's no compromise, there's no adding, there's no subtracting the way it was done back then. That's how we need to do it today. So, especially for us, it's more challenging because other communities, they might adapt themselves, which we don't. Rabbi and I are going to do tefillin. Tefillin is a traditional Jewish ritual where you wrap leather straps around your arm and place a small box on your head.
Inside are handwritten verses from the Torah. And it's supposed to help you focus your mind and your heart on God at the start of every day. For me, it's a powerful way to connect to my roots. Shema Yisrael. Now, I want to learn more about one of the biggest reasons Jews came to Antwerp. The diamond trade. A global industry that gave many Jewish families work, community, and a chance to rebuild their lives after the Holocaust. Since the 15th century, Antwerp has been a major diamond hub because it's a strong port city connected to major trade routes. But all was devastated during World War II when the Jews of Antwerp were
persecuted under Nazi occupation and much of the industry was shattered. But after the war, Hasidic Jews helped rebuild Antwerp into the most important diamond center on earth. And today, the city exports over $12 billion worth of diamonds per year. Now, I'm about to get exclusive access into the heavily secured diamond vault. A place that almost no outsiders get to see. That looks like a rock. Not clear colored, but this is still rough. Our trick is to get the maximum out of that. But if you would find this in the street, you probably would not bother picking it up.
These are the smaller ones. This is a package of 27,000 carats. And our job is to analyze the stones. Do you know which countries these were mined in? We always know where the diamonds are coming from. For example, this is a shipment that just came in from De Beers, which is based in Botswana. But the mines are in Namibia, in South Africa, in Canada as well. So, these are the better qualities. As you can see here. So, this is before they're polished. As you can see, these are whiter. From these we'll make the tiny diamonds that are then called melee and being placed in the jewelry.
We're selling to the big brands. We are selling to companies like, uh, Tiffany's. They will buy the better qualities. How long has this business been going for? I'm third generation here in Antwerp. My grandfather started this business with his brother 75 years ago. I'm third generation. 100% almost of Jews were in the diamond industry. Unfortunately, today, it's probably 1 or 2%. And we're one of the few fortunate ones to be still thriving in this business. But it's become tough.
There's competition mainly from the Indian community. But I'm glad that you're still here standing strong. So, these are, this is polished. This diamond travels the world a little bit like you. So, this is mined somewhere in Botswana, is being shipped here. We analyze the goods. We see what we do with every stone and send it to India in Surat. Have you been there? Okay, good. And this is how it comes back in polished.
You have your 1,000 carats about. And how much is it at? That $1,000 a carat. One thousand dollars. Whole sale. The value of this bag will be $1 million. This bag is literally $1 million of diamonds. And they look really sparkly, really clean. Very cool. Here you go. Thanks for returning. The polishing process takes about one or two months. So, here's something unique. There's not a second stone like this in the world. And actually, every single diamond is unique. But this one's a 10 carat fancy intense pink.
The value is $15 million. And here, this one you can hold in your hand. Tell me if you've ever held anything worth 15 million in one hand. I'm literally sweating right now. Okay. There you go. That's $15 million. Where is it from and why is it so expensive? So pink is a very unique color. It's rare to have the pink color and it's even more rare in bigger stones. How long would it take you to sell these pieces on average? So, we don't rush to sell those pieces.
We really wait for the right consumer for it. The price is well known in the industry. Sort of a fixed this sort of thing. It could be many years to sell it. Yes. So you. in order to sell to the big brands, you do need to sit on a stock of diamonds and you need to have that patience. I think one of the reasons that Jews got into this diamond trade is because we're used to running the wandering Jew. You take a stone, $15 million, you put it in your pocket and you move to a different country.
And it's been like this historically and it might happen again. Now that we've enjoyed a peek inside the diamond world, it's time to step back into daily Hasidic life. I'm meeting up with Daniel, Rafael's son, and he's going to show me what it's like to grow up in his community. So, you take scooters everywhere, yeah? Yeah. Bikes and scooters. I think it's the only, um, Hasidic community in the world where people are on bikes. I think so too. Definitely not on bikes in New York.
How does it feel that most of the world, especially Americans, have never even heard of Antwerp? And you're from this city. It's such a lively city, it's such a cool place. But you realize that, like, it's not a known place. Yeah. It's a hidden gem. I love most people know each other, as in, if you go to New York, there are millions of Jews. Most guys never heard of anyone.
Over here, everyone knows everyone. It's homey. Would you say because that it's such a like tight knit community that there's more drama? In a way. Are you a Belz Hasidic? So, my Hasidic is called Radomsk and it died out in the war. Really? Yes. There's a few remaining families. Once a year, they gather in Poland by the rabbi. Do people in your branch, do they have payos? These are payos. Yeah. They don't have to be armed to be payos. True.
You also have payos. I know I have payos. Yeah. Sideburns, we call them. Yes. Would you ever have long payos? I don't think so. You don't like the look of it or you just don't think it's nice? It's not in my family, you know. We're building up quite the appetite. So, Daniel wants to take me to a classic Ashkenazi deli. These recipes go back generations to Hasidic communities in Ukraine and across Eastern Europe, long before families arrived in Antwerp.
This plate looks so amazing. It's Ashkenazi, Eastern European Jewish food at its core. Chicken and raisins. This is stuffed cabbage. Yeah. Also very comforting. All this food you see here is comforting. While I'm eating, I find out that the person next to me is a famous Belgian Holocaust survivor. I'm extremely lucky that I'm just sitting here eating at the restaurant and you show up. First of all, my name is Regina Sluszny, and Sluszny means honest. So, I have to be honest, right? And I'm born in 1939, so I'm turning 86 in two weeks.
You don't look a day over 70. Yeah, well, thank you very much. And we're three years old when the war broke out? Less than two years. Yeah, '39. And in '40, the Germans came to Belgium. My first run is they used to be in the town where I was during the war. There were German soldiers. And when they had to run when they found out that the Americans were on the way from Brussels to come to Antwerp, they run. And that's the first thing I remember, that people tried to bang them with chairs, with, with whatever they could bang. I mean, they were so mad about it that what they had suffered for four years. And then I, I met the American soldiers who came to rescue us.
And you remember that? And the soldiers. That I remember. This is my first memory. And did you lose family in the war? I lost a family who stayed in Poland. But for my. parents and my two brothers, they survived. They hid in 15 different places. You basically have lived an entire life of Jews being removed from the city until now, a pretty thriving Jewish population. We had a very good life here in Antwerp. It's still okay, except the mail I get is horrible. I get insulted. I'm killing the children in Gaza. While I'm sitting here in Antwerp, I'm killing them in Gaza. That's what they write, that I tell lies.
I mean, it's horrible. But we still go home. There's nothing to do. We have to go home. If you could say any message to people in the world watching this video, what would you tell them? First of all, you have to be optimistic and believe in life, because if you don't believe it, they will kill you very quickly. Not to be scared, because being scared, you lose everything. So, just go on. And for the youngsters, you want to do something in life, go for it, but take the good way.
Don't listen to others, but choose yourself what you want. Not even the parents can tell you, you have to do it if you don't like it. If you want to be happy, choose what you want to do and you'll be happy in life. That was beautiful. Thank you. So, all these non-Jewish people, you don't really talk to them on a daily basis. You keep to yourselves and they keep to themselves. Yes, everyone has its own. Yeah, we keep to ourselves, they keep to themselves. And it works out. It works out perfectly, you see.
Unless, it's like your friend and they try to attack you. It's very sad. Can you explain what happened again? I was coming back from football. I would say, a couple of months ago, which is out of the Jewish area, and on the way back, there were a few teenagers, let's say five, six teenagers started running after. First he was one of my friends, they kicked his bike from the back and they had one took a shaver out of his pocket and we were like, try to like, shave him. And then he got away and they started chasing all of us. And. yeah, I'm saying we called police.
They made a very stupid mistake. And even if you see over here, look at the graffiti. And they put it on TikTok, right? Yes, I've shown you the video. One of my friends was putting his bike down and he got attacked. And they posted openly. And. It's terrible. It's, it's horrible. Yeah. What's special about the Jews of Antwerp that doesn't exist in other Jewish communities? I can't tell you what doesn't exist, but I can tell you what.
Hey, the people are very nice people here. Very nice and friendly. What I see, there's a lot of this very. And there's a lot of modern people also here. And everyone's speaking Yiddish. Everyone's saying a chavers, it's very. heimish. Do you, on a day-to-day basis, do you associate with non-Jews? Like talking? Do you have conversations with non-Jews? Not a lot. So, here's my bike. That's for your kid? I have one kid over here, the smaller one. And here goes the bigger one.
Awesome, man. I hope you have a wonderful day. Take care! So, what's your name, bro? My name is Amir. Hello, everybody. Nice to meet you, man. Where do you come from? Nice to meet you. I come, uh, from Morocco, but I grew up all my life in Italia. There's so many Jews here. There's 30,000 of them. And they live in the city and you can see them everywhere. Do you have any interaction with them day to day? Do you talk to them? Do you know them? My relationship with Jews is mostly business-wise.
We work together. So, I'm daily in contact with the Jewish community only under a professional standpoint, let's say. On the personal level, you know, we try to not only do business with each other, but try to have a connection with each other. So, let's say we try also to create some kind of friendship with them. Till now, one thing that, um, I saw is that everything goes well. If there is respect between each other, then it goes well. Would it be nice if they would interact a little bit more with the rest of the city, with other people? That would be also nice.
Maybe someone could learn more about each other. But, um, me personally, I have no, no bad experiences in this city. Right, give me a better one. There we go. No, wait, we gotta do it. It has to. Kind of. You want to try again? No, that was not kind of. I now know. Okay. Can I show them how it's done? Go. Yes, see, see Jews and Muslims do get along here. I like that. If you go and see, there is a lot of history between us, huh?
Growing up, what was being Jewish to you? That's a good question, man. Um, I grew up in Phoenix. It's the sixth biggest city in America. Doesn't have the most Jews in America, but there is a pretty tight-knit community there. Went to Hebrew school, got a bar mitzvah. I grew up Reform so it means we don't keep kosher. We celebrate the holidays, we don't keep Shabbat. But I've always been very interested in Judaism and that's why when I travel, it just has become a strong part of my identity to connect with other Jews,
to talk to them and see how they live in all corners of the world. Really much in the same way. America is interesting because you have people like me. It's kind of like in terms of being religious on the lower spectrum. And then you have all the way to the ultra-Hasidic Jews of Brooklyn and you have everything in between. Most American Jews are like me. Most American-Jews. But here, there's very few Jews on the street like me. They're like you. So, that's kind of it.
Do you find that interesting? Yeah, I hear what you're saying. That's my experience. I always carry it with me. And I'm proud, definitely proud to be Jewish. It's unique. There's only 15 million Jews in the world, so it's. Right. It's certainly a, a blessing. So, we're not anymore really in the Jewish area here. S,o you don't feel comfortable By myself, not really because someone. It's very likely that over here someone's gonna, give you look, spit at you, or scream at you.
You would not come here alone? No. But now, I have a Jew to protect first of all. I got you, bro. No one's gonna freak with us. We are now approaching the, the main central terminal here. Yeah, most people here are Muslim anyways, like the majority of people around us. I feel tension for you. I'm saying, if you look at me and look at you. they could see I'm Jewish. But you, I'm not so sure.
They all know you're Jewish. No, nobody knows I'm Jewish. Right. So, I'm saying. it's different. It's different, yes. So, as I understand, most Jews, they don't have smartphones because they don't, they don't want the internet. They don't want to be distracted. You don't want the internet. They. Most, most of them. The internet's not good for you. It's a dangerous place. You can be in places you're not meant to be when you're on the internet. It's true. And they want to make sure that doesn't happen.
What's your situation? How do we WhatsApp each other? Okay, so what is that? So, this is my phone. It's considered more than a. it's considered more modern than a normal phone because this has WhatsApp and it has a touchscreen. So, you're able to use WhatsApp on that phone only? I don't use it so much anymore. Now, I use it for you so we can be in contact. Because they say, what's the purpose of a phone? To make phone calls. Why do you need all these distractions on it? Free Palestine, my friend! Free Palestine! Wow. At least you got it on camera, you know?
How do you feel right now? Nothing. Yeah, nothing bothered me at all. I may be used to it, but it happens so often now. Does it happen, like, weekly? Weekly, I'd say, yeah. Second time this week. Damn. We're standing here, right here in the. Just in the Central Station. You could see within the camera view the. The Jewish community. I'm saying. Pretty wild experience to have that happen. Okay.
Yeah. They don't make a drama because this guy already was two minutes circling around us, and I don't feel super comfortable. It's fine. We're in the middle of the square. Nothing's gonna happen. I live in Antwerp. Nothing's gonna happen. We're standing in the middle of the street. No, I know, but in Antwerp, things happen on the street. Over here, I know a few guys. That actually have been attacked.
Like, in the middle of the street? Okay, let me get on a Bolt. Daniel and I are about to hop on scooters because that is the preferred method of transportation. It just becomes a little tricky to film, but I'll make it work. Jesus Christ. Daniel's flying up there way ahead of the people. As you see, I'm out without my, you know what attire this, right? What's up, man? Yeah, I see it. Right. And usually, if I go here, like, to the Central. Yeah. I'll. I rather walk with a cap.
Why you don't want to have a suit? What? What's wrong with the suit? No. So people see I'm Jewish. They can see you're Jewish with the hat. Right, so I put on a cap. With the yarmulke? Oh, you put on a cap. So, you don't feel comfortable right now? No, I'm with you. I'm saying it's in the day, I feel way more comfortable. Hey, man! Yeah, sure. Are you guys from here? Yeah, we're from here.
Nice, dude. There's over 30,000 Jews here, which is a lot like, and they all live right around this area. But it's super interesting that they kind of. They have their life and you have your life. Yeah, exactly. They're very, like, isolated, I guess. There's some people, they try to avoid them, while others. feel like they're avoiding us, you know? Like, me, personally, I just let them do their thing, I guess. I don't mind talking with them, and I don't mind having a conversation. And to be honest, I just live my own life. And I think they live their own lives as well.
Great. Yeah. I presume you're Muslim. Yeah, I was born and raised Muslim. Listen, I know that there's all kinds of problems in the world, especially with Israel and Palestine. But listen, they're cool people. They're humble people. The people here, they keep to themselves. And, yeah. Yeah, you know it's very nice to, like, see the other side of the world, you know. It's a totally different experience to explore by, by scooter. What part of town are we in now? We're in a less busy Jewish area right now.
Okay. It's more towards the side. And now, we're gonna cut in and go in. During the Second World War, the Germans camped over here. And they built bunkers in the park, which are still visible today. Because they built it in such a good way that it was just too expensive to remove. So, they built bushes over. But you could still see them over here. The Brits took over on the 4th of September, 1944. Wow, it's big. It goes all the way back there. Can imagine what it was just 80 years ago, what they.
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All right, now, it's time to head back to the story of the Hasidic Jews of Antwerp. This diamond stores on literally every corner in the city. Look at that. What's your name? My name is Or. Or? Or, yes. Nice to meet you, man. Nice to meet you. In the diamonds industry, all the big companies, all the big people, mostly Jews, Indians maybe, you know, we have our mark in the city, let's say.
Even though we're not so much in numbers, but okay. But yeah, that's an overall. I have to go back to the clients. Nice to meet you. Crazy to meet you. Yeah. Take care. Crazy, man. I wish you all the best. Thank you, man. Thank you, bro. So, Daniel, when you get older, how do you find love? Is it through matchmaking? Yes. You know, a matchmaker like you personally? Of course. So, then when you're ready, you just go to him? That's usually to her. Her?
Yeah. But it must like, do you have a certain age that you want to go to her or you don't have an age yet, you're just waiting? Whenever. Everyone's different, whenever someone's ready. What age do you want to get married? Like 22? Yeah, in that area. I find a wife when it's my time, you know, when God sends me one. And so, I'm just genuinely curious. So you go to the matchmaker, you say, hey, you know, I'm ready.
First you talk to your parents to say you're ready, usually. I've never personally experienced it. You sure? But I have two older brothers who are married. Okay. One got married a few months ago. Thank you. And so he went to your parents first? Your parents said, okay, then you go to the matchmaker? And then they say hey. You say what you're looking for, what you want in your life. And they look for girls with similar interests. And then as I understand, you don't.
You're not, you're not like, you don't date her. You just kind of say, okay, let's get married. No, you date. When I visited the Jews in New York, they told me that they get matchmaked and then sometimes it can be three days later and they're married. That's mainly by the. Hasidim. So, I'm sitting here on a random street corner and it's actually crazy how many Jews are here. It's almost half of the amount of people walking past me are just. Jewish, traditional, dressed up in Hasidic outfits, on bicycles, which is the iconic look.
It's actually really cool to see how these traditions have been carried out for so many years. You can think what you want about how they live their lives, but it is very peaceful, just kind of without using technology. No TVs, just kind of living, living life in a modern city. I mean, other groups of people I bet, who don't use technology are the Amish, but they live in the countryside of American Northwest. And so they, it's easy to not be bothered for them, they just live among the nature. But here in cities with buildings and things around you, it's actually really impressive how they. still keep their traditions. After a great city tour with Daniel,
I'm excited to meet up with a guy named Toli the next morning. He's a famous kosher chef and a well respected man in the community. Pleasure. I managed to be out of bed in time. Yeah. I always first talk about food. I can't help it. Either omelettes and latkes or porridge. Definitely Amazon, Amazon latke. Okay. Work, yeah. Hash brown style. I can't put any ham in it, but. No, no. I, I also for not to eat long a bit.
I see that. Yeah. Those are not so long. Sometimes they go way longer. Yeah. You keep them trimmed? Mine is, mine is kind of it's an ornamental one because I only have one. Well, I had the other one, but I never wear it. You hide it. You've been a chef your whole life? No, I had an advertising agency for 35 years. Wow. And then I became a chef. Chef Toli is a man of many talents over here. Or at least he says to. How many kids do you have?
Five. Nice. They're all daughters. They're all girl. All daughters? Mazel tov. Beautiful. Are they all grown up? They're all grown up. My baby is just engaged to be married in January. Congratulations. Any grandkids yet? Yeah. More than 10? There are few. More than 10? I'm afraid so. I haven't counted, but yeah. Since this Shalom Allemaal business, I've kind of changed. Shalom Allemaal was the second best viewed program in Belgium of that year.
Shalom Allemaal was a ten program series. about the daily life of the Jews in town. And they had four main personalities. And then everybody they saw, met, and I was one of those. So you became well known. And how did that change your life? Because from being invisible as an orthodox Jew, you know, most people avert their eyes when they pass you, they look right and you look left. And all of a sudden, they knew me and I was kind of theirs. Obviously the 7th of October changed a lot of that. But it's still I mean, I've had a bus, a tram stop on the street, and the driver comes out to take a selfie.
Like non-Jews? Yeah, non-Jews. No, the Jews know me. They're not impressed. But that's it. The Jews are really not impressed. The Jews are only lately they become much more, warm to the whole thing because they're benefiting from it. You know when they go to hospital and the doc says, yeah, I know all about it. I saw on Shalom Allemaal. It was a nice change though. Like, I really like the community. What I don't like, even as a Jew is sometimes they're so. close minded. and yes. And they just don't want anything. So,
I talk about that a lot and because I'm sitting in there and I analyze it. I think there's a mutual suspicion, which is much more than they read it as being standoffish and it really isn't. It's fear. And don't forget, they're not really trained how to relate. The boy in yeshiva has probably never spoken to a goy as a friend. Right. Do you have a restaurant? No, I'm a private chef. I travel to where the work is and I work mostly on yachts or in. villas, in exotic places. So, all your clients are Jewish of course? Because you're cooking kosher food?
Okay. So, that was until Shalom Allemaal. Now, my job is kind of become ambassador between the two communities because I'm very comfortable with the Goyim and most people here are not. So first of all, with my cooking, lately, I have a lot of work for Belgians cooking Jewish-style. food. Not so non-Jewish Belgian? Non-Jewish. You go to the US a lot? I've been once for two days. Only once? What's the. I feel like your, your work should take you there. You just. I should. And I, I keep on saying I really should.
Truth be told, until recently, I wasn't impressed by. much that I saw in America because the Americans I met, whenever you tell them this is the traditional way to do it, they say, "In America we do it differently." For people brought in the. in the French tradition, where everything is tradition, that's blasphemy. So, I wasn't impressed by the American. But you're open to it now? Interesting. I'm getting more. First of all, I'm beginning to read about and I see that there is a, there is a movement towards better.
I think the real problem is Americans don't get the difference that we get between eating and dining. Eating is getting nourishment and making sure you're fed. And dining is when it's the whole experience, including the sitting and. where you sit and which knife you use. That's all kind of comforting tradition. And I think the Americans miss out on that. They just straight. just, just give me the food. Those look so good. Perfect color brown. They're going to taste equally good.
Oh, I didn't bring you sugar. Do you drink sugar? A tad. Oh, dear. A tad. A hair. Because you're American. I won't hold it against you. You like, uh, you like drinking? A little bit, chef Toli? Look, it's a nasty job, but someone's got to do it right? If there's one thing I've learned from meeting Jews around the world, it's they love, love, love to drink. What we have is not that great that we wouldn't want to escape from it. All right. This is truly a pleasure. Just. nice little fresh meal.
These latkes are amazing. Thank you. Compliments I'm happy to listen to all day. It's like a giant ball of potato. I've never had truffle omelette before. Very truffle and really good. Very. Yes. Wow, this can be sold in a Toli's restaurant someday. So, what I find interesting about the Jews in Antwerp, like in New York, they all live in this little community in Brooklyn, but Antwerp, they're like everywhere and. Okay, so there's a reason for that. Yes. Tell me. Antwerp is different than New York. In that till.
15 years ago, everybody worked together in the same place. So, you had. people from Mizrachi, people from modern Orthodox, non-Orthodox, even completely, anti-Orthodox, and the Hasidim working together in the same businesses. Actually, it was that mix that attracted me to Antwerp. That was why I wanted to live here because. I'm. a curious mind. I like. knowing and talking to everybody. And here it was possible. Do you suspect the non-Jews of Antwerp? They don't really talk to you guys much so is there a tension? Is there a friction?
There must be, because to me, they do talk. They're incredibly friendly to me. People just come up to me and start telling me how much they sympathize with the Jews and how terrible it must be. Yeah. Because I try to nuance it always and say, you know what? We have to see two sides of the coin and you have to understand, but there's no nuance from that side. And when people say support Israel and I say, what do you mean by support? Do I support its right to be there? Do I need to? It's here. Do I support everything they do? No. I don't even support my own government everything they do.
Why would I support a government 2,000 miles away? I find it silly to have. deep, far-reaching.opinions on something basically. you don't have all the details. After breakfast, we step outside for some fresh air and Chef Toli lights up a smoke, which isn't non-kosher in the same way that pork is. How did the, the show find you? Like, probably I was known to be rebellious. Yeah, and English speaking. Well, no, it was in Flemish. Oh, it was in Flemish. So, the 7 million Flemish people, I think more than half saw it.
Incredible. There are certain parts of Antwerp where you, like, see so many. Jews and some that you don't. But. This is, this is the border, this street. Do you know like how many Jews are in Antwerp? Thirty-three thousand, I think. You've been in all the countries in the world. Is there anything that combines that you will find everywhere? Like 99.9999% of people are good people. Then when you turn on the news, you just hear about the 0.001%.
Unfortunately. That's an insight. Yeah, that's true. Very true. You must agree with that. I very much. Well, I can see the dichotomy. I can see the people the way I. What I see online and what I read in the papers and what I feel on the street is not the same. Hundred percent. Yeah. People are good and kind everywhere and they genuinely want to look, help you, look out for you. And they want to show you their culture, in the same way that if a stranger came here, you would want to show them your culture.
Yeah. And I also think that very many people who are critical don't realize that, that we take it personally. Because if you say to a Chinese guy here, "I don't like the Chinese government," it doesn't personally affect him in any way. Yeah, it's not like he single-handedly controls the Chinese government. Right. Well, we don't single-handedly could do either, but we still feel kind of responsible and when somebody attacks Jews, I see it as a personal attack. Yeah, I get it. Maybe we shouldn't, but we do. What is it like to live in a country where it's divided in terms of just languages and culture? To be honest, if I lived in Brussels, that would make a difference.
Belgium is the way it works in Belgium is that the Flemish part is completely Flemish, the French part is completely French. And it's only in Brussels where you have. So it's kind of like Switzerland. Yeah. And there's two governments for every, for every language and stuff like that, which I think the Swiss don't have. Oh, you do have two different governments? Oh, you've one president? You have one president though? Yes. So, that's got to be difficult.
One guy's controlling different. Yeah. So, Belgium has managed to take something that could be relatively simple and made it as convoluted as possible, which is the Belgian way. But it seems to work although after one, not the last election, but the election before that, they had like a hundred and something or like, oh, half a year or something where there was no government and you didn't really notice any difference. I'm not seeing so many Jews anymore. Did we leave the Jewish community, or? No, but. So it's not like New York because in New York, the Jews are part of society.
Here, they may be welcome guests, but they're not part of the society. Slightly disagree. In, like, Brooklyn and stuff, they really are on their own. Yes, but I mean, as a Jew. Oh. Oh, you mean because there's so many Jews. You have seen as part of the American. Okay, there's 2 million Jews in New York. So they're not strangers in New York. They are part of it. You mean Jews in general? Okay. Jews in general, yeah, that's true. So this is one kind of Jew. But. but it's not like the Jew itself is an alien body.
Okay, so that makes perfect sense now. Look, I find that the Europeans and maybe the English less but the Belgians are definitely more European than the, than the Americans. Of course! For instance, I went to some family to eat, and they made this nice meal for me, and everything was on disposable. I don't even have disposable. dishes. That's normal. And they think I'm bonkers. I think we're fitting in, like, some kind of elegance or something, which the Europeans aspire to, even the Hasidim, which. which the Americans don't seem to.
Did you feel welcome there? Did you feel like. you could live there? No, for me, it's. it's totally. And I. You're probably gonna get a half a million haters on me. No, you know what? It's cool, it's fine as it is. I find lacking, I find the Americans lacking. in refinement. But when I say refinement, I mean the, the aesthetic norms that the Europeans are used to. So the polite, holding the door. Yes, the Americans are very friendly in a very nonchalant way. Yeah. Have a wonderful day. So, just fake? Maybe not fake. Let me back you up on that.
I'm American, and I do agree that there's a super, like, you know, whether it's a waiter at the restaurant or person in the grocery store, they have to be like, "Oh, how's your day going? Oh, what's going on?" All this small talk. But they don't really. You're not. They don't connect. They're not interested. They don't care what you answer. It doesn't bother me, but it's grating in a way, when you kind of think, "How do I know if you really want to know?"
The Belgian government, do they help your community? Do they support you guys? Are they denouncing you? we have a prime minister who is an amazing friend of the community. So, Great. There's no doubt about that, Bart De Wever. He comes from the right, the far right. He was the mayor of Antwerp, and then he became prime minister. And as mayor of Antwerp, he was amazing. Everybody loved him. Since he's become prime minister, he has to juggle a coalition of left and right. So, now, it's becoming a little bit less decidedly on our side. But, but he has a lot of sympathy within the community.
So where are we now? What part of the city are we in? This is the center. So, the station is right over there. Nice. We have to wait for the green light. So, this unassuming place is, I mean, I think everybody agrees. that it's the best kosher bakery in Europe. So what do we got here? This is a. Blueberry bun. A blueberry bun here? When I said it leaks. So, he makes this only when see, only when there's fresh blueberries. So there's a season. But people come specially for this.
I don't know if you can see inside here, but it is just like oozing with blueberries. It's like crunchy on the outside. You get the fresh blueberries. It's sweet. I don't think I've ever had something this good, for blueberries. Hard to explain how good this is, man. The real deal. Yes. What's your name? Meir. And you're from Antwerp? Yes. What do you know about this gentleman right here? He is a very gentleman.
Very nice guy. Very, I could say, cute. Look at that! Whatever you want. He's blushing! Whatever you want from him, you could get from him. Nice. That does not sound good, by the way. He's a gentle guy. Can you tell me a little bit about the community here? I like really very much Belgium. Really, I wouldn't change. I'm from America. You are? Yes. Where in America? In New York. You're from New York? Yes. But you've been here many years? About 25 years.
You lost your American accent. And so what's the difference between the community here and the one in New York? The main difference is a very calm life. No rush, no nothing. And are you, excuse my ignorance, but are you part of the Belz community or. Yes. Belz? What do you do for work? I'm selling eggs. Only in like, local, locally sourced? Sounds like nothing, but come Pesach. And the little community here eats more than a million eggs.
What?! And you're the main egg guy? Yes. How did you get into the egg business? True. I have another question. Like, you live in such a diverse city where you can see all different faces right behind you. You see Muslim women covering up their hair. But you guys live like in the city center. It's not like you live like 30 minutes away in a small community. So, what is it like to live among all these different people? And how do they look at you? I live around the corner, let's say next to the Arabs. Never, never had problems with them. A few times on the street they screaming, "Free Palestine!"
Oh, yesterday someone buy from me eggs. He's asking me if we are if I'm going to Israel and if I'm a pro-Israel or sometimes they know you have family over there? Yes, how they feel about it and afraid about that. But he just want to know. what's going on. So, you never have any problems here? No. Really not. No, but it's true that here we're inside an area where they used to. Of course. I think if you go somewhere completely out.
Yeah, that's true. You'd have more people looking at you. But I don't think you'd have any negative. I don't think anybody would say anything. You go, you go all over the country. Really. It's amazing. As I told you, I love Belgium. Really. How many kids do you have? Six. And how many grandkids? Every time I ask the question, it's like, how many? Four. Only four? How old I am? Forty-five. That's it.
Cool. Where are you heading now? I'm going to work. Starting my work at 10 o'clock. Where's your shop? I might pop in there later. No, I'm just in my car. Oh, you have to see his car. I designed it. When he opened his business, I still had my advertising agency, and I designed his logo and his van. Good luck. Best of luck out there.
Happy New Year. Bye. Dick Stein. I like subtly irritating. Yes. This is a milk company. Shmiel. A milk factory. They make all the kind of cheeses, yogurts, butter. And it's all kosher for the community. it's kosher for the kosher community in all Europe. Oh, We're sending every week to London, Manchester, Paris. Really? Vienna and Zurich. It's everything is made here? Everything is made here. All right, I won't take any more of your time. Nice meeting you.
So, if you look at something like, a real Camembert, real French Camembert. this is. I don't know. Do you have it? Do you have. Do they eat it? So, that's real cheese? That's real cheese. And that's like, it's got a mold layer on the outside, and it has to be allowed to warm and chill. So, you got a problem with American cheese? I have a little problem with American cheese in that it's not cheese. Can I ask you a question on camera about the Jewish community here?
Yeah, for sure. Okay. So, you're aware that Antwerp has like 33,000 Jews, right? And what do you, how do you, what do you think about it? How do you see them? I think it's a pretty diverse community, so to say. There's like a mixture of everyone, like Hasidic, Ashkenazic, Chabad, and it's just a nice community. Everyone's nice to each other, and it's a good place to be. Did you come here because of the Jewish? I came here because I go to.
It's a religious thing. It's called a mikvah. It's got that ritual bath. I go every single day. So, I plan my flights all around Jewish places where there's a mikvah. I was meant to be going via Dublin, but I couldn't get in the mikvah, so, I changed my flight to Brussels. That is. I've been going for 13 months, every day. I will not miss it. I'll pay whatever it is. That's impressive. So, so you're saying you'll take a long flight, but only if you can get in the mikvah?
Yeah. It's a bath? I've done it before. Ritual bath, yeah. You've done it every day? Every day for 13 months. And I've seen crazy success because of it. What do you think about that? I'm astounded. That's some dedication right there. Yes, it's impressive. Yeah. So you did the one here? Yeah, I went this morning. How was it? A big synagogue of Satmar. It was very good. It was clean, smooth. Are you Hasidic?
I'm not Hasidic. I'm a little Breslov at heart. So it's like Hasidic, but like, we don't really dress it. It's essentially. What's it called? Breslov. That's the. I haven't heard that before. Breslov is a more esoteric, more. You know, we wear strings? I'm Jewish, man. Yeah. I get it all. Yeah. So, most, most people wear withnot the blue string but because I'm Breslov, so we wear with the, the blue one. Without the blue string.
Interesting. And you don't have payos or anything? These are my. these are payos, like from the Bible. I don't have the curled ones. So, legally, you're only not allowed to shave it. You don't have to lengthen it. You have. You're just not supposed to shave it off. So, this wearing it long is an exuberant way of showing with how far we don't cut it. Interesting. Wow. Well, congratulations on your mikvahs. Are you going to do that for the rest of your life? I'm going to try.
Mikvah has to be like, where there's Jewish people. It can't just be any. It has to be, it has to be a clean water, or it could be any ocean, or it has to be 40, 40 second measurement. The argument says like 10, whatever it is. I don't know. I think it's 2 square meters. I have to be attached to the ground where the water comes from. So you can't just have, you can't just have water So you just search, search where is it, right? Yeah, a lot of juris institutions would have a mikvah and, and if not, then I have to jump into a waterfall or into the ocean.
Naked, right? Yeah, but obviously there's no one around and everything. That's incred. Good to meet you, man. I was not expecting you to say that. Cool. Yes. It's respect, I have to say. And I'm only 19. You're only 19? Yeah. The more time I spend with Antwerp's Hasidic community, the more I realize how important they are to the lifeblood of this city. As I'm walking down the street, I start noticing small plaques on the cobblestone, each one marking a name, a home, and a life that once existed here. So, all over Europe, you'll notice these little. these little plaques Yeah, where it says the name of the person that lived here,
what day the Nazis grabbed them out of their home, and which concentration camp they were sent to. When you walk by this, how does this make you feel? Well, you get used to it, but there's some. weird little cold feeling that you get. Do you notice these? I noticed it the first time in, in Budapest, actually. I tried to everywhere. As a Jewish person myself, these Holocaust reminders send a chill down my spine and make this city's history feel painfully close. At the same time, my experience in Antwerp gives me hope for the future.
The Hasidic community is still here, raising families, building businesses, and keeping their traditions alive. It's moments like this that reminds me why I travel. To better understand what people have been through and how they keep moving forward. I want to extend a huge thanks to Raphael, Daniel, Chef Toli and everyone else for showing me around. And I'd love to hear from you guys in the comments down below what you think about the Hasidic Jews of Antwerp. Thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next video.
