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