Bridging the Divide: Philanthropy as an Intersection Point in Belgian Jewish Society during the Interwar Period

This article focuses on the debates held in Belgian Jewish society on philanthropy during the interwar period. From the end of the nineteenth century, Belgium’s Jewish community underwent a process of rapid demographic growth and dramatic religious, cultural, and political transformation after successive ‘waves’ of Eastern European Jewish immigrants settled in the country. Jewish philanthropy, previously the prerogative of the Belgian Jewish elite, became a more diversified field as immigrant actors became involved. This inevitably resulted in conflicting visions about the goals of, and methods used in, Jewish philanthropic work. However, providing support for the poor also held out the possibility for Jews from different ideological and socioeconomic backgrounds to work together, thus creating the conditions to bridge divides and allowing for the emergence of new political and communal frameworks. This article examines the historical developments in Jewish philanthropic work in Antwerp and Brussels, the main ‘Jewish cities’ in Belgium.