Rabbi David Feuerwerker - Beit Din

1966 - 1980
5491 Victoria

David Feuerwerker (1912-1980), a renowned French rabbi, immigrated to Montreal in the 1960s. He was active in the city’s Jewish community, especially among its then rapidly growing French-speaking population. As both a French-speaker and an Ashkenazi, he served as a link between the city’s French-speaking Sephardic Jews and its mostly English-speaking Ashkenazim. During the “Quiet Revolution” of the 1960s, a period of profound change linked to the redefinition of Quebec’s identity, he also served as a contact between Quebec’s Jews and its French-speaking community. These years were marked by a wave of concern about Quebec nationalism in the predominantly anglophone Jewish community.

Born in 1912 in Geneva, Switzerland, Feuerwerker became a rabbi in 1937 in Paris. When the Second World War broke out, he fought in the ranks of the French army. After Germany’s victory over France, he and his wife took active part in the Resistance. In 1944, he participated in the liberation of the city of Lyon. He then moved to Neuilly, where he served as Rabbi of the Rue des Tournelles synagogue until 1958. In 1955, he applied unsuccessfully for the position of Great Rabbi of France.

Feruerwerker received a Doctor of Letters in 1961 as a specialist in the history of Jewish emancipation in France. Several years later, in 1966, he was invited to teach at Université de Montréal. There, he became a professor of sociology and history, and also founded a Jewish studies center. Among other activities, he served on the city’s Beit Din (rabbinical court), represented the French-speaking community on the Vaad Ha-ir (Jewish Community Council of Montreal) and continued to officiate as a rabbi, although he was not associated with a synagogue.

A great lover of Jewish music, David Feuerwerker made several appearances on Alain Stanké’s world music program “La musique des nations”, which aired on Radio-Canada. Feuerwerker passed away in Montreal in 1980.

Compiled by Valérie Beauchemin, translated by Hedge Dascher.

Links

Liens

Archives Juives - "David Feuerwerker, rabbin, résistant, enseignant, historien"

Sources

Berg, Roger. Histoire du rabbinat français. Paris : Cerf, 1992.

Perroux, François. « Souvenir de David Feuerwerker ». Revue d'Histoire de la Médecine Hébraïque 137 (1981).

Poujol, Catherine. « David Feuerwerker, rabbin, résistant, enseignant, historien ». Archives Juives 35, No. 2 (2002) : 136-140.

*Image Courtesy of The Canadian Jewish Congress Charities Committee National Archives (CJCCCNA).

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