Renamed is 2004 to become a focal point for the European Community.

The Great Synagogue of Brussels was renamed in 2008 as the Great Synagogue of Europe. The 19th century, in the Age of Enlightenment, Jews were finally allowed to live as full and free citizens in most countries of Europe. I response, Great Synagogues were built and named as such in many of the capitals of Europe. The expressed purpose of the renaming was to show that Jews are full and free citizens of Europe and the world.

On June 4, 2008 Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, along with two of Europe’s leading rabbis, signed the document rededicating the Great Synagogue of Brussels as the Great Synagogue of Europe. It is hoped that the building will become a focus for Judaism in Europe as St. Peter’s Basilica is for Roman Catholics.

The building was designed in the then popular Romanesque-Byzantine style by architect Desire De Keyser. The building survived the Holocaust. Compared to other countries occupied by the Nazis, Belgians went to great lengths to hide Jewish children and adults from the Nazis. As a result, a higher percentage of Belgian Jews survived.

Today, Belgium has the fourth largest Jewish Community in Europe. Belgium has approximately a Jewish population of approximately 42,000 with about 20,000 residing in Brussels.