Annual Meeting of B’nai B’rith Executive Will Map out War Service Program

A far-reaching war service program, supplementing war service activities already under way in seven major fields, to be executed by the 200,000 B’nai B’rith men, women and young people in every state of the Union, will be laid before the 99th annual meeting of the Executive Committee of B’nai B’rith, when it convenes at the Essex House in New York city on February 8 and 9, it was announced here today by the B’nai B’rith headquarters.

During the First World War, B’nai B’rith created the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Welfare League, which set up a network of recreational clubhouses and centers in communities near Army and Navy bases; raised large sums for the purchase of Red Cross ambulances; sold millions of dollars worth of Liberty Bonds to its members; won the commendation of the U.S. Food Administration for aid in food conservation; and contributed 3,256 of its members to the armed forces, a figure that represented 10% of the membership at a time when the average member’s age was 51.

The two-day session, to be presided over by Henry Monsky, B’nai B’rith president, will also deal with major questions of policy, program and budget that will determine the war-time scope and character of service and activity of such major arms of B’nai B’rith as the Anti-Defamation league, the Hillel Foundations, the Aleph Zadik Aleph, Vocational Service Bureau, the National Jewish Monthly and Wider Scope. Ample consideration will also be given to B’nai B’rith’s role in war relief, post-war reconstruction and other war-created problems of special Jewish concern.

Mr. Monsky’s annual report, summarizing the work of B’nai B’rith on many fronts since the triennial convention of March, 1941, will be the highlight of the meeting. The Executive Committee will also receive detailed reports from Maurice Bisgyer, secretary; Sigmund Livingston, chairman of the Anti-Defamation League; Philip M. Klutznick, president of the Supreme Advisory Council of A.Z.A., B’nai B’rith youth organization; Alfred A. Benesch, chairman of the national Vocational Service Committee; Sidney G. Kusworm, chairman of the national Americanism Commission; and from the executive heads of the B’nai B’rith departments.