Arutz Sheva met with Rabbi Michoel Rosenblum, the Director of the EU Jewish Buildings. EU Jewish Buildings is an initiative which was started in 2004 and which aims to set up infrastructure for Jewish organizations that need a base at the European Union. Rabbi Rosenblum explained that the initiative was founded out of the recognition that European Jewish organizations were not taking advantage of some of the possibilities and opportunities at their disposal. When EU Jewish Buildings began, he said, “There were three or four Jewish organizations operating in Brussels. Today there are over 60 registered organizations and a few dozen of those are registered within the EU Jewish Buildings.” Rabbi Rosenblum stressed that EU Jewish Buildings is “not an umbrella organization of any sort. It just gives an opportunity for organizations to come do their thing and to be able to work together.” “There are some beautiful outcomes of various organizations – religious and non-religious – being able to come together for good initiatives over the years,” he added. The organizations in EU Jewish Buildings do a wide-range of activities including reaching out to rabbinical needs throughout Europe, working with students, dealing with anti-Semitism and working with the media, to name a few. Rabbi Rosenblum, whose grandmother survived Auschwitz and whose mother was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany, was born and raised in New York, but now lives in Europe. Speaking about life in Europe as a Jew, he said, “You’re reminded every day you’re a Jew here, as opposed to walking on the streets of New York where you’re just accepted.” “On the other hand,” he noted, “there are a lot of good efforts happening. Things are moving forward. There are times when it’s trying but you keep moving forward.”
