David Berman archives

Collection description

Holding institution (official language):: Institut d’Études du Judaïsme (Institut Martin Buber)

Postal address:: Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 17 / Franklin Rooseveltlaan 17, 1050 Bruxelles (Ixelles)

Scope and content:: This fonds contains correspondence, notes, notebooks, documents related to the religious education in schools such as the Athénée Royal d’Ixelles (1945-1947); programs of religious initiation of the Jewish youth in Hebrew and French; documents mainly related to the teaching function of rabbi Berman, such as lists of pupils following classes of Jewish religion in the different athenaeums, their grades and the topics treated in these classes; pieces related to religious initiation and typed notes (1947) on the initiation into Judaism.

Administrative/biographical history:: Israël David Berman was born in Mire (Romania) in 1889. He undertook rabbinical studies in Paris, in the footsteps of his father who was also a rabbi. Mobilised during the First World War, he practiced in Dijon from 1920 onwards where he would meet his future wife, Madeleine Émilie Bloch, one of the daughters of the Chief Rabbi of Belgium Armand Bloch. David Berman became the deputy rabbi in Brussels in 1923; he also taught Jewish religion in the synagogue and from 1932 onwards in various athenaeums in the capital. He published a number of articles on Belgian Judaism; his patriotic speeches were equally remarkable. During the Second World War, he found exile in the south of France where he became active in the Resistance. After the war, he was engaged in the reconstruction of the Jewish community of Brussels. He published numerous literary and pedagogical articles in both Jewish and non-Jewish periodicals. He died in Brussels in 1947. (J.-P. Schreiber, "Berman, Israël David", in J.-P. Schreiber, Dictionnaire biographique des Juifs de Belgique. Figures du judaïsme belge, XIXe-XXe siècles, Bruxelles, De Boeck, 2002, pp. 49-50.)

Subject terms:: Children; Education; Education--Schools and universities; Education--Students; Education--Teachers and professors; Jewish languages; Jewish languages--Hebrew; Personal records; Rabbis

Access, restrictions:: Access requires the authorisation of the director of the IEJ.