Four hundred B’nai Brith Lodges throughout the United States and Canada will hold special meetings, cultural gatherings, and membership drives, and will sponsor special events during the coming year in honor of the Order’s entry into the 90th year of its existence, which begins October 13.
On that date, in 1843, twelve men, headed by Henry Jones, met at Sinsheimer’s Cafe in Essex Street, New York City, and resolved to found a fraternity patterned after the many friendly societies of that time. In the 89 years which have elapsed since that humble beginning was made, B’nai Brith has grown to be the oldest and largest Jewish fraternal order in the world. It has 400 lodges in the United States and Canada, and 200 more in 25 other countries encircling the globe.
The Central Administrative Board of B’nai Brith has officially authorized this nation-wide observance by American and Canadian lodges of the Order’s completion of its ninth decade.
Special meetings, featuring programs of Jewish music, written or oratorical accounts of the Order’s rich history and achievements, and reviews of American Jewish history generally since 1843, will be held, and in all cases will be community events, open to the public in approximately 400 cities, towns and villages.
Special membership drives will be held to induct “Ninetieth Anniversary Classes” into the Order, and the total membership of B’nai Brith is expected to be appreciably swelled in this manner.
At the end of September or the beginning of October the eight B’nai Brith Hillel Foundations will re-open in as many universities. The one at the University of Illinois will be starting its ninth year of existence, while the ones at the Universities of Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio State, Cornell, West Virginia, Texas and California will be celebrating their birthdays which range from eight to three years.
At the same time, B’nai Brith’s junior Order, the Aleph Zadik Aleph, will launch its ninth year of activity. This fraternity, whose ideals and purposes are similar to those of the Hillel Foundations, is for Jewish non-college boys of from 16 to 21 years of age. Started eight years ago in Omaha, Neb., with a single chapter, it today has some 160 chapters with an American and Canadian membership exceeding 3,000.
As the senior lodges begin their regular season, supplemented by the special activities incident to the celebration of the Order’s ninetieth birthday, more than 100 women’s auxiliaries and girl’s auxiliaries will likewise swing into action.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
