Metadata: Library of the Institut d’Études du Judaïsme
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- Institute of Jewish Studies (Martin Buber Institute)
- Holding institution (official language):
- Institut d’Études du Judaïsme (Institut Martin Buber)
- Postal address:
- Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 17 / Franklin Rooseveltlaan 17, 1050 Bruxelles (Ixelles)
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)2 650 33 48
- Web address:
- http://www.ulb.ac.be/facs/philo/judaisme/
- Email:
- iej@ulb.ac.be
- Reference number:
- BuberIns-Brussels-Bibliothèque de l’Institut d’Études du Judaïsme
- Title:
- Library of the Institut d’Études du Judaïsme
- Title (official language):
- Bibliothèque de l’Institut d’Études du Judaïsme
- Creator/accumulator:
- Institut d’Études du Judaïsme
- Date(s):
- 1800/2016
- Date note:
- Material continues to be added to this collection.
- Language:
- French
- Dutch; Flemish
- English
- German
- Yiddish
- Hebrew
- Polish
- Extent:
- ca. 15,000 items
- Scope and content:
- The library consists of over fifteen thousand works related to Judaism. It contains a unique collection of Jewish periodicals published by Jewish organisations from Belgium and other countries. We notably find a complete collection of the magazines Regards (organ of the CCLJ), Centrale (from the Centrale d’œuvres sociales juives), Kehilatenou, Menorah (created in 1955 by Chaïm Perelman) and others. We also find numerous press clippings, grouped thematically, according to the various sections and classifications of the library. The library contains documentation regarding the Jews in the Soviet Union as well.
- Archival history:
- E. Reichert, librarian and archivist for the CNHEJ and later IEJ, strived to preserve periodicals published by Jewish organisations from Belgium and abroad as well as press clippings that could be of interest to the Institut. The library at one point contained a collection of over 3000 Yiddish books, originating from the library of Solidarité juive, the library of the Bund and private donors. These works were entrusted to the Jewish Museum of Belgium.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
The Centre National des Hautes Études Juives (CNHEJ) was created in 1959 within the Institut de Sociologie of the ULB at the initiative of Max Gottschalk and Marcel Marinower, for the purpose of developing the study of Judaism. Gottschalk was its first president. Among its main objectives was the collection of sources, including oral sources, along the lines of the practices of the oral history department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. As part of the project “Constitution d’archives orales relatives à la communauté juive de Belgique avant, pendant et après la guerre 1940-1945”, almost 35 interviews were collected from 1964 until 1973. A second interview campaign, titled “Campagne d’histoire orale sur l’immigration juive en Belgique au cours de l’entre-deux-guerres”, focused on communist and Zionist commitment; 45 interviews were recorded between 1980 and 1983. The CNHEJ also organised many scientific conferences, of which the proceedings were published.
Willy Bok, researcher and later director of the CNHEJ, was the creator of a Record Centre tasked with collecting (like the zamler of the YIVO) a maximum of archival material produced by Jewish organisations, such as minutes of meetings, publications, invitations, leaflets, posters, etc.
Certain organisations as well as individuals with responsibilities in these organisations have donated some of their archives to the CNHEJ (and later the IEJ). We note for example the archives of Paul Philippson regarding his activity within the Centrale d’Œuvres sociales juives and the Caisse de Prêts et de Crédit, as well as the archives of rabbi Israël David Berman.
The presence of archival material of the periodical Regards and minutes of meetings of its editorial board is explained by the fact that Eliyahou Reichert, librarian-documentalist of the CNHEJ since 1967, held important functions within this committee. Max Gottschalk, president of the CNHEJ and Consistory, had the archives of the Association des Juifs en Belgique stored in the Consistory buildings in the rue Joseph Dupont transferred to the CNHEJ, in order to have them ordered and used as the basis for a scientific study on the role of the AJB. The resulting publication by Betty Garfinkels, apologetic for the role of the AJB and the actions of the Belgian authorities, became highly controversial. It prevented further research on this still very sensitive question, and delayed the publication of the work titled Travail sur les archives de l’AJB written by Max Katzenelenbogen (also a CNHEJ researcher). In the early 2000s, the archives of the AJB owned by the Consistory were transferred to the Joods Museum van Verzet en Deportatie in Mechelen and were not open for research until 2002. A number of boxes nevertheless remained at the institute.
In 1970 professors of the universities of Brussels, Liège and Ghent teamed up to create the Institut Universitaire d’Études du Judaïsme Martin Buber. This institution was recognised as a public institution by royal decree of March 8, 1988 under the name of Institut d’Études du Judaïsme (IEJ). It succeeded the CNHEJ but was primarily devoted to academic education and not to the collection of sources. Today, the Institut d’Études du Judaïsme offers a specialised education in Jewish studies. It organises a two-year master’s program in Jewish history, Jewish thought and Jewish civilisation. Students can also take individual courses or obtain certificates for certain disciplines. The IEJ organises conferences, and its researchers and professors contribute to scientific research in their field of specialisation. The Institut furthermore publishes a collection of works related to Jewish studies, titled Mosaïque. The IEJ is supported by the Communauté française. It plays a key role in intercultural dialogue in French-speaking Belgium. The institute often invites leading experts as speakers on the occasion of the start or closing of the academic year, such as Emmanuel Lévinas, Robert Badinter and Ilya Prigogine. The IEJ manages a very rich library containing a mass of documentation relevant to Jewish studies. It consists of about twelve thousand works regarding Judaism, including many periodicals published in Belgium and abroad. (http://www.ulb.ac.be/facs/philo/judaisme/; Annexes au Moniteur belge of November 26, 1959, pp. 2170-2171 ; discussion with W. Bok and E. Reichert, June 2013 ; J.-P. Schreiber & R. van Doorslaer, "Introduction", in J.-P. Schreiber & R. van Doorslaer (dir.), Les curateurs du ghetto. L’Association des Juifs en Belgique sous l’occupation nazie, Bruxelles, éd. Labor, 2004, pp. 16-22 ; J.-P. Schreiber, "Le témoignage au service de l’histoire et de la mémoire : le cas du judaïsme belge de 1945 à nos jours", in Les Cahiers de la Mémoire contemporaine-Bijdragen tot de eigentijdse Herinnering, no. 1, 1999, pp. 16-17.)
- Finding aids:
- The library of the IEJ is included in the library catalogue of the ULB. Researchers are advised, however, to contact the librarian of the IEJ concerning the periodicals and documentation.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
