Metadata: CCIB
Collection
- Country:
- Belgium
- Holding institution:
- Jewish Museum of Belgium
- Holding institution (official language):
- Musée Juif de Belgique
- Postal address:
- Miniemenstraat 21 / Rue des Minimes 21, 1000 Bruxelles
- Phone number:
- +32 (0)2 512 19 63
- Web address:
- http://www.new.mjb-jmb.org
- Email:
- info@mjb-jmb.org
- Reference number:
- JM-Brussels-CCIB
- Title:
- CCIB
- Title (official language):
- CCIB
- Creator/accumulator:
- Consistoire central israélite de Belgique; Centraal Israëlitisch Consistorie van België
- Date(s):
- 1901/1999
- Date note:
- The majority of material dates from 1901 to 1940.
- Extent:
- 11 boxes
- Scope and content:
- In this fonds we find correspondence, minutes of meetings of the CCIB, annual reports, files concerning the recruitment of rabbis and their employment, reports of social and charitable works (including Villa Johanna, Société des Secours Efficaces, Mères Israélites, Orphelinat de Hirsch, Comité des Apprentis, Œuvre Centrale Israélite de Secours, Keren Kayemeth Leisrael, Mutuelle Israélite, Caisse Consistoriale de Bienfaisance, the retirement home, Société israélite d’assistance antituberculeuse de l’agglomération bruxelloise, Cuisine Populaire Juive, Société d’inhumation de la Communauté israélite de Bruxelles, Comité d’aide et d’assistance aux victimes de l’antisémitisme en Allemagne, Société d’études talmudiques, the regional committee of the Alliance israélite universelle, etc.), budgets, accounts, invoices, accounts of the société Machsike Hadass (1923) as well as files concerning the legislation related to ritual slaughter (boxes 116 and 117), more recent documents dating from the 1990s notably announcements of symposia, speeches on the occasion of the pilgrimage to Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1999, etc. (see boxes 66 to 70, 72, 101, 105, 106, 116, 117)
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
The Consistoire central israélite de Belgique / Centraal Israëlitisch Consistorie van België (Central Jewish Consistory of Belgium)(CCIB) was created in 1832 by Adolphe Oppenheim, Henri Furth, Sigmund Benda, Adolphe Hauman and Henri Schuster. They were inspired by the similar institution established by Napoleon in the early 19th century. The founders tried to acquire the same benefits that had already been granted to the other recognised denominations for the Jewish religion. As the Jewish contact institution to the Belgian authorities, responsible for the management of the Jewish religion, the CCIB represents Belgian Judaism and embodies the spiritual authority of the religious communities. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the institution tried to be the guarantor of the emancipation and modernisation of the Jewish communities in Belgium, along the lines of the Enlightenment philosophy, which led to friction with the most conservative communities. These communities tried to escape the authority of the CCIB in order to enjoy a greater spiritual independence.
The CCIB was also a meeting place for the different conceptions of Judaism. Key figures were, among others, rabbi Élie-Aristide Astruc, rabbi Armand Bloch, rabbi Ernest Ginsburger and rabbi Robert Dreyfus. Among the presidents of the Consistory we note iconic figures such as Louis Lassen, Joseph Oppenheim and Jacques Wiener in the 19th century, Franz and Paul Philippson, Ernest Wiener, Jean Bloch and Georges Schnek in the 20th century.
The range of functions of the CCIB has greatly expanded since the Second World War. It supports cultural, educational and heritage initiatives. The CCIB has supported the Institut d’Études du Judaïsme Martin Buber in Brussels, the Instituut voor Joodse Studies in Antwerp, the Fondation pour la Mémoire Contemporaine, the Joods Museum voor Deportatie en Verzet in Mechelen; it was at the initiative of the creation of the Jewish Museum of Belgium and the Institut de la Mémoire Audiovisuelle juive. The Consistory publishes the quarterly Nouvelles Consistoriales – Consistoriaal Nieuwsblad, and organises radio and television broadcasts. The institution is involved in the Organe de Consultation entre Chrétiens et Juifs en Belgique. It plays a key role in domains such as inter-religious dialogue, Jewish education, preservation of Jewish cultural heritage, the study of the history of Belgian Judaism, remembrance of the Shoah and the dissemination of Jewish culture. Although the CCIB was liberal from 1832 until 1880, it is currently influenced by Orthodox Judaism and refuses to include the liberal community Beth Hillel. The current president of the Consistory is Professor Baron Julien Klener. He remains the moral authority of Belgian Judaism, its representative and the manager of its communities. (J.-P. Schreiber, Politique et religion. Le Consistoire central israélite de Belgique au XIXe siècle, Bruxelles, éd. de l’Université de Bruxelles, 1995; http://www.jewishcom.be/)
- Access, restrictions:
- Access requires the authorisation of the Jewish Museum of Belgium.
- Finding aids:
- There is a preliminary inventory of the Jewish Museum of Belgium.
- Yerusha Network member:
- State Archives of Belgium
