B’nai B’rith Decides to Intensify Its Service Program; Increased Membership Reported

B’nai B’rith headquarters here today announced an expanded program of service in the United States and in many parts of the world during 1947, following a two-day meeting of the national executive committee of the organization.

Emphasizing that the period of post-war adjustment is not over, Henry Monsky, national president of B’nai B’rith, said that special attention will be given to the problems of returning veterans. “It is our desire,” he stated, “to return the veteran to a peace-time nation where he can re-assume his rightful place in the community and assert himself as a recognized member of that community.”

Maurice Bisgyer, national secretary, declared that B’nai B’rith lodges and women’s chapters would intensify their participation in overseas relief programs for the war-stricken areas and step up the “Adopt-A-Family-Abroad” program. He reported that in 1946 nearly 5,000 family units had received continuous aid and that 1,000 more families are now being processed for aid. Lodges have been organized or reorganized in 23 countries throughout the world.

The executive committee session also heard Harry Brager, national membership director, report an unprecedented gain in membership during the past year. He said that the aggregate membership in B’nai B’rith lodges, women’s chapters and youth groups–exclusive of college Hillel Foundations–had reached the total of 302,885. The national secretary revealed that the total number of organized B’nai B’rith groups in the United States and Canada is 2,350.

The report of the vocational service bureau, delivered by Max F. Baer, national director, held out a program of over-all research on job placement opportunities in the next few years. He said that the war years brought a lull in vocational guidance studies which will have to be revived to meet the needs of the future.

Richard E. Gutstadt, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, declared that the Joint Defense Appeal’s $6,000,000 campaign is now the second largest one before American Jewry. The JDA is the joint fund-raising agency for the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith and the American Jewish Committee. Gutstadt’s report consisted of a 94-page book, covering in detail the widespread work of the Anti-Defamation League.

In regard to B’nai B’rith activity on the college campuses, Dr. Abram L.Sachar, national director of Hillel Foundations, pointed to an “astonishing” increase in membership during the past year. During 1946, he said, seven new full-time Hillel Foundations and 40 counselorships were established, making a total of 163 units. He estimated that there are now 200,000 Jewish students in institutions of higher learning, twice as many as before the war, and that the expansion materialized despite every attempt to be cautious and conservative.