Zvi Berenson

Zvi Berenson was born in 1907 in Safed

Berenson was born in Safed in 1907 to a family of merchants. As a boy he studied in a cheder and a yeshiva, then at a boys' elementary school and at the Scottish College of Safed.

He studied mathematics and physics and earned a science degree in 1929. He taught mathematics and Hebrew at the Scottish College until 1931, then went to the University of Cambridge to study science and law. In 1931 he married Hannah Wolf, and they had two children, Ilana and Chaim.

Back in the Land of Israel, he trained at a law firm and received a law license. He served as legal adviser to the Histadrut labor federation. In 1948 he drafted one of the first versions of the Declaration of Independence.

He became Director-General of the Ministry of Labor and led work on the first labor laws and the national insurance law. He was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1953, despite opposition from some parties, and served until 1977. His rulings dealt with administrative law, torts, labor law and family law.

After retiring he chaired the Arbitration Board for the Public Sector until 1994. In 1987 he received the Emil Grunzweig Human Rights Award. He died in 2001.