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B'nai B'rith
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Independent Order of B'nai B'rith (Hebrew: בני ברית, "Sons of the Covenant") is the oldest continually-operating Jewish service organization in the world. It was founded in New York City by Henry Jones and 11 others on October 13, 1843.[1]
The organization is engaged in a wide variety of community service and welfare activities, including the promotion of Jewish rights, assisting hospitals and victims of natural disasters, awarding scholarships to Jewish college students, and opposing anti-Semitism through its Center for Human Rights and Public Policy.[2] The organization's main body is B'nai B'rith International, the entity that works with hundreds of countries around the world to increase the welfare of resident Jews.
Besides its welfare activities, B'nai B'rith is also a vocal supporter of Israel. Together with AIPAC, it created in 2002 an initiative called 'BBYO 4 Israel.'[3]
Also, until 2001, B'nai B'rith sponsored the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO), which is now BBYO, Inc. BBYO, an organization for high school-age Jewish teens, was founded in 1923, and comprises the boys' order, Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA), and the girls' order, B'nai B'rith Girls (BBG).[4]
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B'nai B'rith International bestows various recognitions and awards, including its Presidential Gold Medal awarded every few years to honor the recipient's commitment to the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Recipients have included David Ben Gurion, John F. Kennedy, George H.W. Bush, and Golda Meir. In November 2005, the Gold Medal was given to former Austrian chancellor Franz Vranitzky, [5][6] and in May 2006, it was awarded to Australian Prime Minister John Howard.[7][8]
The Canadian section of B'nai Brith (the Canadian organization uses no apostrophe in "Brith") was founded in 1875 and is the country's oldest Jewish service organization. In recent years it has been a rival to the Canadian Jewish Congress as "the voice" of Canada's Jewish community, and is considered to be the more outspokenly conservative body of the two, particularly in its publication the The Jewish Tribune (compared to the more moderate Canadian Jewish News). B'nai Brith Canada (BBC) is also considered to be closer to the Likud in its views of Israel and Zionism than the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC), which is officially non-partisan with regards to Israeli politics. In Canadian politics, although both groups are officially non-partisan, several former senior officials in the CJC, such as former President Irwin Cotler, have run as candidates for the Liberal Party of Canada, while Frank Dimant, executive director of B'nai Brith, considered running as a candidate of the conservative Canadian Alliance in the 2000 federal election. In October 2004, Adam Aptowitzer resigned from his position as the Ontario chairman of B’nai Brith Canada’s Institute for International Affairs after making statements on a television talk show defending the use of "terror" tactics by Israel against Palestinians; B'nai Brith Canada disavowed his opinions.[9]
In 2007, B'nai Brith Canada faced what was described as an "internal rebellion" by members who felt the organization is not governed responsibly and who object to the groups ties to the Conservative Party of Canada. Henry Gimpel, a former Toronto lodge president told The Forward that "[t]here’s too much of [B’nai Brith Canada] being run by one person.”[10]
B'nai Brith Canada has 4,000 full dues paying members. The organization is struggling financially and had to mortgage its head office in January 2007 in order to raise $850,000 to meet expenses.[10]
The Western Jewish History Center, of the Judah L. Magnes Museum, in Berkeley, California has a large collection of historical records and papers, membership ledgers, correspondence, reports, and photographs that document the history of B'nai B'rith's Grand District Number Four (which included the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington, as well as the Canadian Province of British Columbia) for the years 1963–92.