ANTWERP, Belgium (VINnews) — A rare chalitzah ceremony was held this week in Antwerp, marking the first time in nearly 40 years that the city’s Orthodox Jewish community has conducted the ritual, according to Israel’s Kol Chai Radio.

The ceremony was organized by the rabbinical court of the Machzikei Hadas community and drew hundreds of attendees, including rabbis, rabbinical judges, Torah scholars and local residents. Organizers selected a large hall to accommodate the unusually large turnout for what is considered one of Judaism’s least frequently performed legal ceremonies.

The proceeding was led by Rabbi Aharon Schiff, the city’s senior rabbinic authority, together with members of the local beit din, including Rabbis Amram Hennig, Yechezkel Pollak and Eliezer Shimon Eckstein. Serving as witnesses were Rabbis Asher Sternbuch and Shalom Grinfeld.

At Rabbi Schiff’s request, Rabbi Aharon David Dunner, head of a London rabbinical court who has previously presided over several chalitzah ceremonies, traveled to Antwerp to oversee the proceedings. He also brought with him the specially prepared leather shoe required for the ritual.

Ahead of the ceremony, the rabbinical judges inspected the venue to ensure it complied with halachic requirements. Printed copies of the traditional Seder Chalitzah text, based on the ruling of the Maharam, a disciple of the Rema, were distributed to those in attendance so they could follow the proceedings.

During the ceremony, the widow removed the special leather shoe from her late husband’s brother, recited the prescribed declaration and spat on the ground before him, in accordance with Jewish law. The assembled crowd then proclaimed three times, “Chalutz Hana’al” (“The one whose shoe has been removed”), formally completing the ritual.

Under Jewish law, when a married man dies without children, his widow and his brother may either enter into yibbum, or levirate marriage, or perform a chalitzah ceremony. Today, virtually all Orthodox rabbinical courts require chalitzah rather than yibbum, with the ceremony formally releasing both parties from the biblical obligation and permitting the widow to remarry.

The ceremony concluded with a traditional prayer asking that Jewish women no longer be required to undergo either chalitzah or yibbum, reflecting the community’s hope that such circumstances will become increasingly rare.