To avoid confusion with the banned Freemason organizations, the word “lodge” will be dropped as a descriptive term for Rumanian branches of the B’nai B’rith, Jewish international fraternal order with headquarters in America, it was announced today by Senator Jakob Niemirower, the order’s president here.
Senator Niemirower, who is also chief rabbi of Bucharest, said the Government would take no action on the demand voiced in Parliament by Prof. Alexander Cuza, anti-Semitic leader, for inclusion of the B’nai B’rith in Premier Tatarescu’s ban on freemasonry.
In a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Senator Niemirower declared there was no connection between the Freemasons and the B’nai B’rith and asserted the latter held legally registered meetings that were open and not marked by secret proceedings. He continued:
“B’nai B’rith has been in existence sixty years in Rumania. The fact that I, chief rabbi and a Rumanian senator, am head of the B’nai B’rith organization is the best proof that it is neither anti-religious nor anti-patriotic.”
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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.