Friday, November 14, 1947

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE'

Page Thirteen

IN IIIE1101IIANI

1890

I

1917

‘P'
HENRY MONSKY
President Supreme Lodge Bnai
Brith, 1938 to 1947.
We, in Bnai Brith, for years recognized Henry Monsky's dyna-
mic leadership, his magnetic personality and profound states-
manship. Long recognized as one of the leaders of American
wry, Henry Monsky was rated as the nation's number one
,ewish leader. Bnai Brith and all Jewry mourns his loss.

What is Bnai Brith?

Bnai Brith Is a service organi-
zation devoted to patriotic, edu-
cational and philanthropic work.
Founded in New York in 1843,
Bnai Brith has exerted great in-
fluence on the American and
Jewish scene by putting into
practice the age-old moral and
ethical teachings of our people.

• • •

Preamble

The preamble to the Bnai Brith
Constitutio,n reads as follows:
Bnai Deith has taken upon it-
self the mission of uniting Israel-
ites in the work of promoting
their highest interests and those
of humanity; of developing and
elevating the mental and moral
character of the people of our
faith; of inculcating the purest
principles of philanthropy, honor
and patriotism; of supporting sci-
ence and art; alleviating the
wants of the poor and needy;
visiting and attending the sick;
coming to the rescue of victims
of persecution; providing for, pro-
tecting and assisting the widow
and orphan on the broadest prin-
ciples of humanity.
•

Who Belongs to
Bnai Brith

Bnai Brith includes in its mem-
bership all groups-•-orthodox, con-
servative, reform—Zionist and
non-Zionist.
Since Bnai Brith does not rep-
resent or favor any political pro-
gram its members adhere to dif-
ferent movements and parties.
Yet Bnai Brith has managed to
weld its 190,000 members, or-
ganized in some 800 lodges in the
United States and Canada, into
an effective instrumentality dedi-
cated to the preservation of de-
mocracy.

• • •

Do Women Belong?

Today there are more than 500
units of Bnai Brith women in
nearly every city of importance
in the United States and Can-
ada, with a total membership of
80,000. They participate in all
Bnai Brith activities, and serve
under the Women's Supreme
1„ ncil.

• • •
Foe of Anti-Semitism

The Anti-Defamation League of
Bnai Brith has for the past 30
years engaged in an educatiOnal
campaign to lessen anti-Semitism.
Its Speakers Bureau has spread
its message far and wide. Books
of a pro-democratic, pro-Ameri-
can nature are made available, to
schools, public libraries, college
libraries, clergymen and news-
paper editors. The Anti-Defama-
tion League has used the radio
extensively to reach an audience
of millions of people.
The Anti-Defamation League
s been vigilant in protecting
American Jewry from slurs in
the press, the cinema, the stage
and the radio. Today its most
Important work is exposing pro-

fessional
propagandists.
The
Fact-Finding Department of the
Anti-Defamation League has made
a continuous study of anti-Amer-
ican agencies fostering hatred of
the Jews and of American demo-
cratic institutions.
• • •

Refugees

Shown (center) is Frank Goldman, president of Bnai Brith, oldest and largest Jewish service
Organization in the United States. Pictured above are a humber of Bnai Brill' servios projects:
(1) Food parcels to Bnai Brith families overseas will cover a larger area in the "Adopt-A-
Family-Abroad" project. (2) American democratic ideals will be inculcated through the ef-
forts of the Anti-Defamation League. (3) Hillel activities will be stepped up on the college
campuses through the opening of more adequate Foundation facilities and intensified programs
directed at Jewish youth. (4) Bnai Brith youth groups, such as AZA, IIBYM and BBYW, are
planning all-out campaigns to
cooperate In service campaigns on a national and community
basis. (5) The Vocational Service Bureau will continue to issue reports, surveys and other
material on opportunities for Jewish young people. Included will be a Decennial Census of
Jewish College Students. (6) The distaff side of Bnai Brith is set to go on numerous projects
encompassing community relations, children's aid and service to hospitalized veterans.

Bnai Brith has been on the
scene of every major Jewish dis-
aster since its formation. Through
its Refugee Aid Bureau, Bnai
Brith has saved the lives of
countless numbers of its brethren
and brought them to safety. Vic-
tims of Nazi persecution have WACS, WAVES, SPARS and
triotic Americans, and socially
turned to Bnai Brith time and nurses.
enable them to make a maximum
useful citizens.
again for speedy rescue and sup-
• • •
contribution to the nation.
port.
.1. • •

• • •

Palestine

Bnai Brith Went to War

Bnai Brith has given construc-
tive aid to Palestine by planting
memorial forests; by the estab-
lishment of two colonies, the first
in honor of its honorary presi-
dent, Alfred M. Cohen; and the
second named for the late Henry
Monsky; by donating thousands
to Youth Aliyah, the Bnai Brith
Psychiatric Home for persecuted
European children.

On behalf of the War Depart-
ment, General Dwight D. Eisen-
hower, Army Chief of Staff, pre-
sented a citation to Bnai Brith on
Monday, Feb. 4, 1946, in which
he expressed his "personal satis-
faction at the opportunity of pay-
ing tribute to the war service
contributions" of Bnai Brith.
Referring to our hospital pro-
gram, Gen. Eisenhower stated he
was particularly gratified to learn
that "Bnai Brith was continuing
its service into the post-war era
because it was especially impor-
tant that the men in the armed
forces know that the American
people have not forgotten them."
Likewise, the Navy Depart-
ment, through Admiral Forrest P.
Sherman, presented a similar ci-
tation for the "Serve-A-Ship"
Program of Bnai Bfith.
More than 18,000 young men,
former members of Bnai Brith,
Aleph Zadik Aleph, and Hillel
served in the armed forces, In
addition, more than 200 Bnai
Brith girls have volunteered as

• • •

Hillel Foundations

Hillel Foundations in colleges
throughout the country ars per-
forming a tremendous task in
providing youth with recreational,
cultural, and religious programs
and are adjusting their facilities
to the overwhelming demands
that are made of them.
The Hillel centers exert a posi-
tive Jewish influence, preserving
and building the interests of tens
of thousands of students over the
years, sending them out into the
world, upon graduation, informed
and eager to take their places in
hundreds of American communi-
ties as understanding Jews, pa-

• • •

Youth Organizations

Americanism

Bnai
Brith
sponsors
thil
B.B.Y.O and is training some 30,-
000 Jewish boys and girls for
leadership. The program consists
of cultural activities, athletics, so-
cial activities, religious work, and
community service activities. The
program is supervised by a staff
of professional youth workers
plus Bnai Brith men who serve
as volunteers.
-

Bnai Brith pioneered in devel-
oping cultural and social pro-
grams designed to orientate new-
comers to the American scene.
Bnai Brith today holds hundreds
of meetings as part of its Ameri-
canism program.
In many communities Bnai
Brith joins with other civic and
patriotic organizations to sponsor
holiday celebrations in the form
of Americanism seminars, inter-
faith meetings, community round
tables, parades, flag dedications,
and war service tallies.
Thousands of Bnai Brith youth
are mobilized in programs stress-
ing character-building, good citi-
zenship and patriotism by means
of debates, oratorical and essay
contests of patriotic themes,
monthly programs, featuring vari-
ous aspects of American history
and the availability of books de-
voted to democracy and American
life.

Choosing a Career

The Bnai Brith Vocational
Service program helps both Jew-
ish youth and adults achieve oc-
cupational adjustment.
In war and in peace, in depres-
sion and in prosperity, they are
given information of occupational
opportunity, education and train-
ing facilities, techniques of find-
ing the right job and of conduct
in the employment interview.
Through publications and
through trained counselors, they
Ther\Sick and Needy
are aided in making plans and
decisions leading to careers that
Bnai `s Stith founded the Na-
are personally satisfying and that tional Jewish Hospital in Denver,
the Leo N. Levy Memorial Hos-
pital in Hot Springs, Arkansas,
and the Bnai Brith Social Service
Bureau at the Mayo Clinic where
all may be served regardless of
race or creed. In addition, Bnai
Brith has been instrumental in
establishing a number of orphan
asylums, homes for the aged, and
camps for underprivileged chil-
dren.

• • •

90th Anniversary Committee

• • •

Inter-Faith Amity

Photo by Jerk MgrIman

Above is the 90th anniversary committee at work. Seated from left to right are Henry M.
Abramovitz, Milton M. Weinstein, Victor Bloomfield, harry Yudkoff, Louis Rosenzweig, Her-
bert S. Eskin and Julius Deutelbaum. Standing from left to right are Max H. Goldhoff, Morris
Shatzen, Phil Levant, Isadore Starr, Samuel W. Leib, Meyer Leib, Alfred Bounin, Rudolph
Meyersohn and Jack Lawson.

One of the founders of the or-
ganized inter-faith movement,
Bnai Brith has been a close col-
laborator of the National Confer-
ence of 'Christians and Jews.
Bnai Brith promotes better un-
derstanding between Jews and
Christians by sponsoring memor-
ial meetings for distinguished
Christian leaders; by joint meet-
ings with non-Jewish organiza-
tions; by essay contests on relig-
ious liberty, and by awards for
outstanding community service.
The Statute of Religious Liberty
which stands in Fairmount Park,
Philadelphia, was presented by
Bnai Brith to the people of the
(Continued on Page 14)

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