A merica 'elvish Periodical &ter
CLIFTON AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, OHIO
THE JEWISH CHRONICLE
The History of the Independent
Order of B'nai Brith
the birthday of the Order.
Lodge," under whose jurisdic-
tion societies should be formed.
brushing aside the imputation of which he loved as his fatherland,
secrecy which does not exist in and that true liberty, as in this
the ordinary sense of the word, country, could only mean an in-
emphasizing fidelity to Judaism
centive to the Jew to remain
and the Jewish cause which need
loyal to his inherited faith and
not and never did mean taking
tradition, which naturally and
foundation and dedication cere- a hand in the theological or ec-
monies Dr. E. NI. 1:riedleitt, who clesiastical squabbles, and mak-
only within these limits linked
OWWWWWWWWW,,,,
The 13th of October, 1813, was
PAGE ELEVEN
der to educate, to elevate, to ought to be. all integral part of
civilize, and to advance the race, the land in which he resided and
On that day, in the city of and whose members were to Con- subsequently earned for himself
New York, the first formal ses- sist of the founders and of all the designation of "The Nestor
ing it in every way clear that
past presidents of subordinate
unite and not to disrupt the
sion was held, and steps were
of the Order," Dr. Nlerzbacher
taken for the establishment of lodges; a "General" for Ex•cu- and 1)r. Nlax
a Jewish Fraternal
I )rder, pat : live Committee was to be made
Through the instrumentality of
terned after the many. friendly up of the (;rand Nasi .11), or
1: tysident. and the Grand Zeke-
Dr. Nlaurice Nlayer the Nlaimon-
svith it distinct purpose of i ts nine, or tillers, chosen by the
ides heading institution and
own.
\\ hetili.e
Brand Lodge. Isaac Ditten-
Library was orgiinized; it was
dis hoefer, the first President, had
located in Covenant I lall and
societies ill this country,
angry.
it not
crimination against Jews in cer-
tain lodges led to the founda-
seen occasion, on Feb. IL 1st I, opened in IS:19. A course of
to install Zion Lodge No. 2 in lectures was instituted and the
New York City , and among
is immaterial: as a matter of those Who 55 ere admitted to
fact, some of the ccry founders membership therein none stood
tion of a Jewish Order for Jews,
services `of many eminent lec-
turers were enlisted, alining
whom we' find julius Bien, 1)r.
of the Order had been admitted
out as prominently as Dr. Nierz-
\Vaterman, Dr. lie Stegnitz,
to the Nlasonic Lodge. But it
!filcher, who tinged zealous. ill
Dr. Nlax Lilienthal, Dr. E. NI.
stands to reason that not all of
the tip-building of the ( lrder,
the immigrants from Germany
fructify ing the institution with
possessed the sante degree of his ideas and conceptions.
education and of adaptability to
new surroundings, and that most
of them were happiest in as-
sociating with their own kind.
Friedlent, I. NI. Cohen, 1)r.
Nlaurice Mayer.
Thus the educatioqiil activities
The men Who were his lodge- of the ()riler Ivi:re Unfolded.
Nlany other plans for "academic
brothers aided their teacher in
founding the Cultus-Verein, education" were taken in hand.
which soon thereafter developed but the time was not ripe. .\t
What actuated the twelve men into the Congregation Temple any rate it is the merit of the
Emianuel, nosy recognized as the Order that at ;lin early date it
who first met in an Essex Street
saloon, differ as they might in
foremost Jewish ctingregation in realized the supreme need of
education and mentality. was the the land. Thus indirectly the .1nierican Jewry along educa-
unanimous conviction that some- Order, as its founders hoped it tional lines, and Dr. S. 1Vater-
thing ought to be done for the would, helped realize a decorous mall and 1)r. James may
elevation of the social, unreal and and dignified mode of worship be singled, out ;Liming the propa-
intellectual condition
in
this Country.
a the Jew:
gators of scholastic schemes.
in the synagogue.
those days the Portuguese kept
to themselves and "hardly recog-
nized other Jews as their
equals:" and these Avert. split up
Jews.
They all brought with them
their home customs and particu-
larly their home ritual or min-
hag. l'etty rivalries among the
congregations and strife and
brawls and lack of dectiruni
within made of the synagogue a
dividing rather than it uniting
factor, and the thoughtful were
obliged to look for an organiza-
tion such as a fraternal ( 9 - der
might prove to he to act ;is a
unifying and civilizing agency.
The expectations of that early
group of founders were destined
to be realized in the sequel. and
judged by the results the initial
self to an honorable place in the
community and (vas determined
to raise along with himself his
brothers in faith. The others
who attended the first formal
meeting %cert. \\ ;Mani lellatt,
Isaac ho.enbcrg, Isaac Ditten-
hoefer, Michael Schwab. R. NI.
lodacher. Henry Kling, 1'alen-
tin• kwon, Samuel Schaefer,
shockingly persecuted Jews in
Win; in purSlialiCe of
The supreme power was vest-
ism. So long as .1 brother dew
Foremost in pointing out the
tuts of the Order in this ilireC-
suffers injure for no other rea-
lion were Brus . \ iCtor Abraham
son than that he is ii„ Jew, it i•
11111 the late Judge NI. S. Isaacs.
Juda-
the Order's duty and privilege
to evert all its legitimate efforts
I here was work it home and
abroa d.
to ameliorate his condition.
The international character of
the I )rder, enhanced by Presi-
suggestions math.- by the Order,
Deep interest in the purposes,
and the negotiation, were car-
aspirations and setts Ines of the
lent L'ien's Iriumplial journey
ried on chiefly by Bro. Simon
Order marked the semi-centen-
through Europe in 1897, placed
11 off, who in that occasion. :is nial celebration of the oiler'•
im many; others, acted on behalf existence in Ocniber, .\t
of the Order at 1V.ishingtow But the central office in Nets York
the appointment carried with it
bits message, of congralillationi
it in a position
to undertake
measures of relief or protection
Oil
the largest scale.
In Inon, at the convention in
and good wish e s were •ecened
no salary, and for it period (1.
years the lodges of the Order from such men as Leroy -11auliett
provided the funds for Iii' main- President Cie\ eland, .1tidrew
pinged to invite the co-opera-
tenance of the IZounianian mis-
\\lige , then representative It
can kindred asso•iations in in-
sion.
the Potted States It the Cow
of I■ liSsia, governors of the state
stituting ill•aSures for concerted
of New York, Nlassachusett•.
tions of our co-religionists in
P•ixotto
interested
himself
not merely in the political svel
fare of Roumanian Jewry; ht
Nlississippi, Kansas.
Chicago it commission %vas im-
tion of all European and Ameri-
relief of the lamentable condi-
Galacia through the introduction
laid foundations for iniproved
,\ three (lass' festival was held
of industries, agricultural em-
[elvish education throughout
in the Grand Central Palace of
ployments and educational facili-
Industry in the city of New
ties. It was at that convention
York. In the piTsence of a vast
that President Bien declined re-
election as president of the
ganized the Order Zion in af-
Executive Committee, and Leo
other cities: in Cincinnati in
Isaac I.eeser. laphael, S. Nl.
gramme into practice.
quick succession two
Isaacs, Isaac M. \Vise. David
\Taled in its count of nine Grand
est position in the Order.
were
in-
stalled, the second being the
Einborn were active members.
first lodge of the lirder in which
\\ hen at the Cleveland Synod
the kmigliay language was used.
in 1855 the conservatives wit
being empltiyed at first.
out, the Order remained neutral
.Nt the annual meeting if the
The year ISIS brought to this Constitution Grand Lodge which
country; a large number of Jews met in the same year at CM-
who had taken part in the strug-
cinnati,and which placed Mosel)
gle for liberty. Conspicuous
Ezekiel in the supreme office,
among them was I sidor Bush, the record showed twenty lodges
who immediately joined the with 2,218 iii•liiherS and a capi-
ranks of the Order; aided by his
tal of fis35,300; two years later,
previous iiturnalistic esperience,
when Julius Bien was • made
he undertook to publish a Jew-
Grand Saar, there were 9,ss9
ish paper 1"1 , rael's I leraliri, the
lira in the German language in
members with all accumulated
capital of $I5,000. lik e N ew
this countr), in which articles
York, Cincinnati had its educa-
appeared setting forth the aims
tional center ill the Niendelssolin
of the Order; but the publica-
Library, which was
tion was discontinued after
a
, I11111
reillOV ell
Of early political activi-
ties we may mention the effort
three months' trial.
Bash
S:.S.
111)(111,11 in
I..
St.
:It a time when the
renewal of a treaty; was pending
between this country and Swit-
the question,of the admission of
It was the cause of greater and
more successful activity in that
Order was decided in the nega- direction Tt the years that were
tive.
to come.
New lodge: were being formed
and when in Is:d the Constitu-
More Growth.
tion C,rand Lodge met, in Con-
Still more phenomenal was the
("flinty with the new Constitu-
growth of the Order in the fol-
tion a charter was granted for
lowing ten years. Three new
it District Grand Lodge to be
Grand Lodges were instituted:
known by the name of District
No. I in San Francisco,
Grand Lodge No. I. located in
I 186:1 : No. :1 in Baltimore, Nld
the City of New York, and for
(1867 I and No. fi in Chicago,
a District Grand Lodge No. 1,
to be located in Cincinnati.
The Constitution Grand Lodge
Cal
Thus the Order not only
• ‘inced its interest in our perse-
convicted in 1852; we find
Lodges, Inn lodges with nearly
Short as his tenure of office
30,000 members and its record
was, cut short by his premature
cuted co-religionists abroad, but of Innultilent and educational in- death at the age of 4i years on
t began to transplant to the stitutions in this country and Jan. 13, Pug, within this period
,tier side of the ocean its bene- abroad.
measures were taken and activi-
ficent educational organization.
.\. L. Sanger summed up
ties unfolded which served to
the Order's achiel einem, :thing
widen the influence of the organi-
Grand Lodge No. 1. with juris- the lines of philanthropy by
zation and to bring it into promi-
diction over the Southern states. , pointing out how by means of
was instituted. As a . marl of I endowments and 12y. liberaLcon-
nence as one of intern:16ml
.1t home. in 1873, another new
Pro.
import. President Levi inter-
the lose which .1merican Jewr y tributions substantial aid had
ested himself in the welfare of
bore for the country of their been afforded to the sick and
the immigrants of a decade ago
birth it adoption, revealing how distressed; how in every in-
who stood in need of Americani-
they thoroughly identified them- stance of great public calamity
zation ; a brotherly hand was ex-
selves with its civic life and how it had been at the front of the
tended to them, and lodges vs;ere
they valued its blessed institu- army of workers, giving with
organized among them, as, for
lions which ittiorded freedom of free and unstinted bounty to al
...sample, in the East Side in
conscience to all citizens alike, sufferers without regard to erect
Netv York City whereby the
the Order entrusted in is I the or nationality; he showed how
■ ussian Jew in .1merica at the
sculptor Nloses Ezekiel with the the Order steadily increa , eil
execution in marble of a statue charitabl e work by the erection
close 01 the century could slowly
representing "I eligiotts Liberty," of buildings devoted to benevo.
tion which was enjoyed by those
and it was unveiled two years lent purposes: the Home fin
who had gone thinnigh the school-
later on the grounds of the Aged and Infirm Hebrew , at
Centennial Exhibit on coniffienio- Yiml:ers and the Nlainionides
its foundation in the forties.
■
rating the signing of the I )(Tiara-
Library in New York
tion of Independence. at Fair-
District No. 1
mount Park, Philadelphia, w here
Orphan .1sylinit in District No.
it remains as an everlasting
2; the Foster Dome fu Philadel-
tribute by the Jew to .1in•rica.
phia in District NO, 3; Covenant
Europe Joins.
in
the Cie\ eland
I I all at San Francisco in District
No. I: the .\Illoita Ilebrew
raise himself to the eminent posi-
ing allorded by the Order since
Immigration.
But there were also fresh im-
migrants, refugees from Russia
and Riminania. NVithin four
months after the call issued by
President Levi homes had been
afforded in widely separated
.1 new Sphere opened for the phut .1sylum in District No. :1,
parts of the 'country to toil' a
filler in 1852. when Nlorit ,- El - established through the untiring
thousand r•fligeeS. The wort:
linger, acting lot behalf of the energy of Bro. Simon \\ off ; the
lit plae : ng thcn1 and finding em-
Exectithe
ommittee. instituted Chicago Niantsd Training School
ployment for. them was done
the first lodge in Berlin, Ger- in District No. 11, ;old the New
most elfectkely through the M-
many.
Orleans Orphan .1s)luni in Dis- ilk ideal lodges. ( In it larger
\Vithin three years a sullicient
trict No. 1.
scale vets the iffgallitatiffil,
above 20,01111 members. In that
The activities of the 1 trier 1010W11 115 the 1111111 ,41"i:11 hcmnwal
founded to svarrant a visit to during the next twenty-foe OfliCk*, instituted through the in-
them by President Bien. Flii- years are within the in•inory of itiative of President Levi, and
year a Coin eiltion Was held in
thusiastically received, he in-
almost eyes member now con-
the city of .,New York. Composed
stalled on June 21, 1x55 , Grand
nected with any of its lodges.
11868). In 18118 there were
number of lodges had been
Jonas Hecht, II. IItiuctnau and , Iccittlie the highest tribunal of if representatis es of each lodge. Lodge No. s for Germany.
the Order, communicating- only
M. - Anspacher.
and the present constitution was Grand Lodges No. 9 for Rou-
mania and No. III for .1ustria
On the 21st of October. a with I listrict 1 'gaud Lodges; adopted.
followed in quick succession. and
Constitution and By-Laws were Items Jones was elected Presi-
.1cciirilingly, the supreme au-
branches of the Order, 11411
adopted, together with the "Rit- dent I"( ;rand Saar"). The first
thority was vested in a presi-
■ a• the light in the New 1Vorld,
ual" for initiation and instruc- annual report !lamed twelve
dent, to hold office for five years,
were set up in Europe, and in
tion. The name, Utilities Bruder lodges in existence. with 1.202
and in an executiVe Collinlit-
the adjoining tWo continents of
(Brothers of the Covetiant ), with members, and 5P 1 .1 1".23 off ag-
0 had been tee and a court of appeal, each the 0111
gregate
funds;
$1,111
the Hebrew title Irnai Brith,
of which was composed of
and the motto, "Benevolence. disbursed during that year fur
o ne repiresentative from each dis-
The Order thus became truly
the
support
of
the
sick
and
Brotherly Love, and Harmony,"
trict.
elected
for
five
years.
fliternational,
and‘ enabled to do
then chosen, has e remained to needy. In Is:12. District Grand
The first president was Julius its benevolent work, which ex-
Lodge No. 3 was instituted at
this day.
Bien, who had been the master tended to all abodes of Jewry
Philadelphia. Thus. after seven
'Hie element of secrecy, then
mind of the new constitution. efficaciously, never meddling
years of existence. the Order en-
likewise introduced, was sub-
IIe held the office until 1900, with the internal affairs id the
tered upon its second epoch, dur-
jected to criticism. but its de-
when he declined re-election he- various countries, always ready
ing which it spread rapidly.
fenders emphasized its emotional
cause of his advanced years.
to take up the cause of the
appeal to the less educated and
Halls Built.
For upward of thirty years he downtrodden and persecuted co-
were aide to cite its potencie4
religionist.
In New York City four lodges stood at the helm, guiding the
for good in similar organizations.
united in erecting a building, Order amidst ever-changing con-
The Order planted
itself
Chief Powers.
"Covenant Hall," which was ditions of Jewish life in this squarely upon the position that
ed in the "Constitution Grand
Two Leaders.
merit of the (tiller that it oct et
countenanced a priu incial
N. Levi was elected to the high-
entitled to being considered as inn-Jews to membership ill the
of his character, had lifted him-
tion of the Condition of the
the eighties and nineties.
Order's man dims progress re
zerland, to safeguard the rights
eloping the principle , and of Jewish citizens against IVI111111
ganization and consolidation of purposes of the Order. In Is:111, there were discriminatory laws.
goods, by the sheer forcefulness
pose ut securing all allichora-
■
acrilice. It is the stipreim
.erk atives and the progressives;
the or-
though not bleSScil With worldly ,
brethren, came nobly to the res-
cue of the hapless arriveis in
Lodges were soon formed in
!Antis. where he became largely
a machinist by trade. Si
the conviction that all Jews were
Bien narrated the story of the
instrumental in promoting and
the real founder, Henry Jones,
Itucharest for the express pur-
trained in the lodges of the Or-
der to the wider outIt(k and to
liliatiop with our Order. which
of an inspiration.
the Order was the mail who is
Is. Is S. Consul at
.1nierica and their descendants,
carried the educational pro-
and timely act vva s nothing short
The leading
Tiro. 1 1enjamin I. Peixotto in
try; and these German Jews in
est conception of true patriotism,
,
appointment of
Jewish immigration to this coun-
lence of both wings, and con-
into English Jews and German the Gennan elsewhere naturally
Jews and Polish Jews and Dutch
The unique
The Order had its inception in
the needs of the second wave of
The Order inculcated the high.
which cheerfully accepts eIer
Peixotto,
in the Order al hiresscil them-
selves.
concourse of pclople President
Divisions.
lu the New; York Jesvry of
Jewish proide.
51 111'111
over.
the mission of the Urder was 0I
t<otimania, and in 15' 1 he or-
The Order enjoyed the conti-
Order Grows.
him to other Jews the
selves to which the best minds
• intry and abroad. singular])
among the participants in the alive to the potencies of the ()r
then given user in Charge of a
joint committee designated as the
The old grooves Were not for- Industrial 1:einoval Committee of
saken.
the Jew ish ..1gricultural and
■
The endou ment and insurance
Societ . .\t the meeting of
feature had to be dropped. The
the Executise Committee in At-
Order had clearly outgrown serv-
lantic fits In Jul- , 1902, plans
ing as a - mutual insurance sit.
were formulated for conducting
ciety. The members had learned
a bureau for the placing out of
that the Order was called upon
orphan children, and to I)istrict
entrusted the business
to devote its energy and time
NO. I sus
and means to matters affecting
of trying the experiment. But
the larger houseludd of Israel the croxvning achievement of
or humanity. \\ fah the growth
President Levi's administration
of anti-Semitism in the culfiged
was his prompt action after the
lands of Europe, translating it-
Kishineff massacre April, 1903,
self in countries of a lower ley el
which had stirred the heart if
of civilization into legal and
the Jew, as of all fair-minded
economic discriminations and people, to its s- ery depth. The
often enough into bloody ma s- Order associated itself with all
sacres, with the forced exile of
other Jewish bodies in collecting
our persecuted and harassed co-
it large relief fund to be sent to
religionists from eastern Europe
our destitute co-religionists in
and the increased flux of immi-
he Jew was, and where unjust gration to this country. new
aws militated against him.
,ies of work presented them
the Bessarabian capital for int-
med . :tie needs and such rehabili-
tation as money could buy.