A Fraternal History of Marin County California

International Order of B'nai B'rith (Sons of the Covenant) (I.O.B.B.)

There have been two Lodges of the International Order of B'nai B'rith in Marin County. The oldest Lodge appears to have been Marin Lodge B'nai B'rith which was located in San Rafael. The other Lodge, named Northgate Lodge, was located in the Terra Linda section of San Rafael, but subsequently merged with Marin Lodge B'nai B'rith. At the time the Northgate Lodge was formed, Terra Linda was a new subdivision being occupied in general by younger families: There was a feeling a the time the Lodge formed that there was a sufficient difference in interests that a new Lodge was needed to cater especially to the needs of younger men. The San Rafael Lodge met in several locations during its history: It met variously at the Woodmen of the World Fraternal Hall on C Street, upstairs in the West America Bank Building, and in the original Marin JCC that was located on Mission Street. The Lodge also held some meetings at members homes. The Mission Street property was subsequently sold to Marin Academy when the JCC moved to North San Pedro Road. In approximately 1998, Marin Lodge B'nai B'rith merged with Greater San Francisco Unit No. 21.

The Marin B'nai B'rith Lodge predated the existence of Marin's Synagogues, Rodef Sholom (Reform), Kol Shofar (Conservative) or the Chabad of Marin (Orthodox). According to Marin B'nai B'rith Lodge Past President, Harry Yaffee, who joined that Lodge in 1955, B'nai B'rith was the center of Jewish community life in Marin County before Rodef Sholom was started in approximately 1962. The activities of the Lodge added greatly to the Marin community at large. Member Jack Waxman noted the Lodge's humanitarian efforts were completely non-sectarian: Service and helping people was what the B'nai B'rith Lodge's were about in Marin, as elsewhere.

One of the early activities sponsored by Marin Lodge B'nai B'rith was a commemoration of Washington's Birthday and celebration of Boy Scout Week. Marin Lodge B'nai B'rith with the participation of Marin merchants sponsored a window decorating contest for the Boy Scouts: Windows were decorated in San Rafael, San Anselmo, Novato, and Pt. Reyes. Three time Past President Pete Bolgla of Freidman's Furniture Store in San Rafael, recollects having been a judge of the event for many years. Mr. Yaffee also recalls that Marin Lodge B'nai B'rith sponsored a Scout Troop for mentally challenged children that met in Ross. Mr. Bolgla recalls that for many years Marin Lodge B'nai B'rith put on a night at the San Rafael Scout Hall on A Street for the Scouts and their parents: The Lodge would show a movie, have a speaker, and serve refreshments for everyone.

Marin Lodge B'nai B'rith took an active interest in baseball, whether it was playing it, or teaching others to appreciate the game. Mr. Bolgla played in the B'nai B'rith softball league for over 25-years, running the league for 15 of those years. The Marin Lodge B'nai B'rith played in San Rafael, San Francisco, Vallejo, and San Jose.

Messrs. Yaffee and Waxman recalled that Marin Lodge B'nai B'rith held an annual Day with the Giants event for the children at St. Vincent's School for Boys. The Lodge rented a bus, picked the children up at St. Vincent's, paid their admission to old Seal's Stadium, and gave each one some spending money for refreshments or souvenirs.

To pay for such undertakings, Marin Lodge B'nai B'rith held an unusual fundraiser - Professional Wrestling at Albert's Field in San Rafael. (Mr. Albert, a member of Marin Lodge B'nai B'rith had donated the field to San Rafael for a park.) The Lodge borrowed the mat and ring from San Quintin Prison: Mr. Bolgla remembers it took many members to bring the mat down from a third-story exercise room in the prison and load it on the truck, and more members to carry it back up! One of the draw cards for the benefit Big Time Wrestling was Leo Nomellini, who was a two-time All-American at the University of Minnesota and the first-ever draft pick of the 49ers in 1950. The Hall of Famer was a two-way lineman in his fourteen pro seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and played in 10 Pro Bowl games. Nomellini performed as a pro wrestler during the off season; during this period Wrestling was a major event at the San Francisco Cow Palace.

Mr. Waxman recalled that the B'nai B'rith Women, the auxiliary of the men's Lodge, was very active in Marin. Not only were they supportive of the men's Lodge and social activities, they also pursued charitable pursuits of their own. One Mr. Waxman remembered was the ladies hospital visitation program, wherein the B'nai B'rith Women not only visited but also took small gifts to patients in the hospital.

B'nai B'rith District Four (which covered the 8 Western States) was disbanded in 1998, which left two regions in California, Southern California and Golden Pacific Region. The currently active Lodges are: Greater San Francisco, Eden, Oakland, Mt.Diablo-Rossmoor, Diablo Valley, Napa, Vallejo, Silicon Valley, Ot Am, and David Lubin (Sacramento). Greater San Francisco Lodge was formed by merging the following Lodges into one Unit: San Francisco, California, Skyline, Unity, Golden Gate and Marin Lodges.

In San Francisco, B'nai B'rith has a four-story building at 121 Eddy Street between Mason and Taylor. Various Lodges met there over the years and used the six large halls including: Grand, Ophir, Unity, Modin, Pacific, Montefiore, Columbia, Golden Gate, Occidental, California and Cremieux. The Eddy Street building also had a grand ball room with a stage arrangement, a dining-room, and a library (about seven thousand volumes) and reading room.

Extinct Northern California Lodges of B'nai B'rith include: Contra Costa-Berkeley, Bear Flag (Santa Rosa), Modesto, Hope (Stockton), Jack Kasivan (Salinas), Fresno, Mid-Penninsula, Palo Alto, San Jose, and Ner Tamid (San Jose).

District No. 4 records have been deposited in the Judah L. Magnes Museum, Berkeley, CA.

International Order of B'nai B'rith (Sons of the Covenant) (I.O.B.B.) - History, Ritual, and Background

B'nai B'rith was founded in the lower East Side of New York City on October 13, 1843 by twelve founders, all German émigrés in their twenties or thirties. They were Henry Jones (who originated the idea), Isaac Rosenbourg, William Renau, Reuben Rodacher, Henry Kling, Henry Anspacher, Isaac Dittenhoefer, Jonas Hecht, Michael Schwab, Hirsch Heineman, Valentine Koon and Samuel Schaefer. The founders were primarily shopkeepers who had been unacquainted before 1843, but apparently met through mutual membership as Freemasons, Odd Fellows, or other secret benevolent societies. Their purpose for organizing yet another fraternal group was to end, or at least reduce, the chaos and anarchy in Jewish life-or, as one of the founders put it, of "uniting and elevating the Sons of Abraham." (B'nai B'rith - The Story of a Covenant, by Edward E. Grusd, Appleton-Century, New York 1966, pp. 12-15, hereinafter cited as "Grusd".)

There is a persistent legend that B'nai B'rith was founded because Jews were barred from membership in the Masonic orders and the Odd Fellows. As the memoirs of Jones, Rosenbourg, and Renau attest, that was not the case, since several of the Order's founders were themselves members of those organizations. (Id.) Additionally, the nascent fraternity of B'nai B'rith found its first home in Masonic quarters. The Masonic Hall, at the corner of Oliver and Henry Streets, was rented for two dollars a night, and on November 12, at 8 P.M., the first meeting of the first B'nai B'rith lodge was called to order by Henry Jones as temporary chairman. It was named New York Lodge No. 1 and from it the order rapidly grew, spreading across the country and eventually overseas.

B'nai B'rith's first Lodge on the West Coast was Ophir Lodge, founded in San Francisco in 1855. (Grusd, at 41.) In 1863, although the Civil War was still raging, the West Coast membership in B'nai B'rith had grown sufficiently to warrant the creation of a new District within the Order. The Order's Grand Secretary thus traveled by ship from New York, around South America, to install District 4 at San Francisco: District No. 4 had assigned to it the states of California, Oregon, and the Territories of Washington, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. (Grusd, at 61.) By the end of the war between the States, B'nai B'rith had established Lodges in not only major cities like San Francisco and Sacramento, but in such smaller cities as Grass Valley, CA and Virginia City and Carson City, NV. (Grusd, at 63.) In 1866 District No. 4 was expanded to include "all the States and Territories of the Union West of the Rocky Mountains, and British Columbia." (Grusd, at 64.) In 1879, District No. 4 dedicated a B'nai B'rith Hall to serve as a cultural center, meeting place for Lodges, and District headquarters: The impressive building cost $90,000. (Grusd, at 82.)

As District No. 4 entered the 1880's, it became embroiled in a controversy within the Order relating to insurance practices: A debate raged over the best actuarial practices, the best minds demonstrating that annual insurance premiums of at least $18 per year, three dollars more than the $15 most distracts assessed, were necessary to pay the promised $1,000 death benefit to an insured member's heirs; the opponents argued with greater popular appeal that cheaper insurance nets more members. District No. 4 rejected all advice and increased the death benefit to $2,000 without raising the premium. (Grusd, at 87.) The CGL subsequently passed legislation requiring that the minimum assessment be not less than $15 per $1,000 benefit with a "proportionate additional rate for any amount exceeding that sum." (Grusd, at 88.) All districts complied except District No. 4, which asserted that compliance with the legislation would "ruin and even end B'nai B'rith on the Pacific Coast." (Grusd, at 88.) Under threat of Charter revocation, District No. 4 finally complied after a two year fight to maintain its higher benefit. (Grusd, at 88.) In 1887, District No. 4 amended its endowment laws to provide for graduated rates, from $16.20 per year for those in their twenties up to $30 per year for those over fifty years old: The action placed District No. 4 in violation of the Order's Constitution, until the Order's convention of 1890 legalized the action and finally put the insurance component of B'nai B'rith on solid footing. (Grusd, at 106.) To its credit, District No. 4 established a School for Technical Instruction in San Francisco in during the 1880's. (Grusd, at 103.)

Throughout the third-quarter of the 19th century, the ritual and paraphernalia of the order became an issue. In 1857 the Constitutional Grand Lodge ("CGL") met in Philadelphia. During the CGL's session, delegates voted to restrict the wearing of regalia to officers and discarded most of the ceremonial ritual; the candidate's initiatory oath was replaced with a simple pledge of honor; "degree lodges" (actually degree teams) were dissolved; and the number of degrees was reduced from six to three. (Grusd, at 46.) A move was made to "restore and retain, in a corrected form, the customs, regalia, ritual, and usages of the Order as originally given," at the 1858 CGL session. Id. At the CGL session of 1866,

the advocates of more ritual won their fight. A motion was passed requiring holders of the ritual degrees to wear different-colored aprons, with even more distinctive ones for past presidents. Every apron had to have "I.O.B.B." printed on it. In a thunderous minority report, Rabbi E.M. Friedlein enounced regalia as "against the letter and spirit of Judaism." He called them chukot hagoyim (foolish practices of the Gentiles) and quoted from Deuteronomy that "no man shall put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God." But the majority wanted aprons. (Grusd, at 64.)

At the CGL session of 1868, delegates voted to change the names of the Lodge officers from Hebrew terms to standard English terms (i.e., President, Vice President, etc.), but kept the Hebrew nomenclature (i.e., Grand Nasi Abh, Grand Aleph, etc.) for District Officers. (Grusd, at 66.) Eleven years later, at the CGL session of 1879, the delegates voted to contract the three degrees of the ritual into one simple and dignified degree. (Grusd, at 83.) At the 1900 convention, delegates determined to keep the amended, single degree, ritual. (Grusd, at 122.)

The 1843 ritual had consisted of six degrees which imparted the aims and purposes of the Order, each illustrated by examples from Jewish history. Under the 1879 single degree ritual, the symbols and emblems introduced during initiation were: A white, blue and red striped cord (symbolic of the bondage suffered in Egypt, the bond of fraternal brotherhood, the standards of the tribes of Zebulon, Judah, and Reuben, etc. and to patriotism and loyalty to country), shepherd's staff (symbol of vigilance and industry), Tablets of the Law, Ark with the Cherubim, seven-branched Menorah (symbolizing Light, Justice, Peace, Benevolence, Brotherly Love, Harmony, Truty), the Temple of the Holy City. The ceremony of initiation had two parts. First, a symbolic journey or pilgrimage in the Lodge. Second, a lecture interpreting that pilgrimage. The paramount duty of a Ben B'rith is to "Work and to Watch." The three cardinal principles of the Order adopted at the Order's founding are Benevolence, Brotherly Love and Harmony. (I.O.B.B. Ritual (1905).)

The officers of a B'nai B'rith Lodge are the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, Monitor, Assistant Monitor, Guardian, Warden, and Trustees. Early in its history, the officers were called by Hebrew names: The president was called the Grand Nsi Abh; the vice president, Grand Aleph; the secretary, Grand Sopher.

From as early as 1859, there had been members of B'nai B'rith that sought to extend the Order to include women. In 1890 the movement had gained sufficient strength that one spokesman lectured delegates that, "If you want Justice, practical justice, remove your prejudice against women...and proclaim that they are as capable as we are to carry out the teachings of your Order." (Grusd, at 106.) While unable to carry the motion to amend the name of the organization to Independent Order of the Covenant, the movement forced a compromise whereby it was submitted as a referendum to the Lodges: It did not gain the two-thirds vote of the Lodge's needed, and was, in fact, defeated by more than two-thirds. ((Grusd, at 106-107.) The issue was not dead. In the 1895 CGL convention, delegates voted to permit District Grand Lodges "to establish Auxiliary Lodges for women under such regulations and conditions as may be approved by the Executive Committee," which stopped short of making women members but opened the way for formal participation as a recognized auxiliary. (Grusd, at 115.)

Thus B'nai B'rith Women ("BBW") was started in 1897 as an auxiliary to the men's lodges. District No. 4 was the first to take advantage of its new right to create a women's auxiliary. The first auxiliary was formed in August 1897 at San Francisco. The wife of the District No. 4 President Herman Gutstadt was installed as President of the new auxiliary. (Grusd, at 115.) (The Gutstadt's son, Richard E. Gutstadt, went on to become instrumental in the building of the Anti-Defamation League. Id.) This auxiliary, however, was not long lived although other districts (Districts Nos. 1, 3, 5, and 6, and in Germany) kept the auxiliary movement alive: It would take until March 1909 for San Francisco Auxiliary No. 1 to be instituted that the B'nai B'rith Women would really take hold in the order. (Grusd, at 115-116.) From that start, BBW has grown into an international organization.

B'nai B'rith became an international organization in 1882 with the establishment of the first overseas lodge in Berlin, Germany, called the Deutsche Reichsloge No. 332. (Grusd, at 91.) Lodges followed in Palestine, other Near Eastern lands, and the Balkans. (Grusd, at 91.) The District No. 9 was instituted in Romania in 1889. (Grusd, at 102.) In 1889 a Lodge was charted in Austria, leading to the formation of an Austrian District Grand Lodge (Id.): In 1897, famed psychiatrist Sigmund Freud joined the Vienna B'nai B'rith Lodge, and in subsequent years documented how important his Lodge membership was to him during years his then radical theory of dream interpretation left him a virtual outcast. (Grusd, at 210-211.) In 1925, the Lodges of Great Britain and Ireland became District No. 15. (Grusd, at 186.)

In 1885, B'nai B'rith's convention endorsed the idea of uniting the growing number of Jewish fraternal organizations, Since B'nai B'rith's inception several other Jewish fraternal organizations had sprung up in the United States, including the Independent Order of Free Sons of Israel (established in 1849 by men who were Masons, Odd Fellows and/or belonged to the German Order of Harugari, membership then 11,000), the Kesher Shel Barzel (established in 1860, membership than 9,000), and the Improved Order Free Sons of Israel (membership then 3,300). (Grusd, at 97; and see, Memorial Volume: Leo N. Levi, I.O.B.B., p. 305 (Hamburger Printing Co., Chicago, IL, 1905).) However, because the plan called for incorporation of these orders into B'nai B'rith's then 25,000 members, leaders of the other organizations balked at the unification idea. (Grusd, at 97.) It should be noted that several other Jewish fraternal groups existed or soon would be formed, including: Ahavas Israel, established in 1890 by Jewish men who were members of the Masonic Fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Sons of B'rith Abraham, and/or Independent Order of B'nai B'rith; the American Star Order, founded in 1884; Improved Order of B'nai B'rith, founded in 1887; Independent Order of American Israelites founded in 1894 by men who were members of the Independent Order Free Sons of Israel and the Sons of Benjamin; Independent Order Free Sons of Judah, founded in 1890; Order of B'rith Abraham, founded in 1859; Independent Order of Sons of Abraham, established in 1892 by men who belonged to the Masonic fraternity, the Sons of Benjamin, and/or the Order of B'rith Abraham; and the Independent Order of Sons of Benjamin, established in 1877. (Cyclopedia of Fraternities, Albert C. Stevens, pp. 206-210 (Hamilton Printing and Publishing Co., 1899) Beginning in the 1890's, more restrictive mutual-aid organizations broadly described as Landsmannschaften, which restricted membership by country or town of ancestry began to achieve popularity in Jewish communities. (Grusd, at 108.)

The question of Lodge "secrecy" became a nagging issue. In 1885, B'nai B'rith's convention addressed it by permitting Lodge's to hold public installations of officers: However, no Lodge was required to make its Installation of Officers a public event. (Grusd, at 98.) In 1910, secrecy was again an issue at the convention: Abolition of secrecy was defeated when it was noted that six of the seven American Districts still had insurance endowments, and if ritual was abolished, it would make it impossible for some of those districts to continue its fraternal insurance where states definitions of fraternal insurance required the society to have a ritualistic basis. (Grusd, at 146.) In 1918, debate was opened at a American Jewish Congress held in New York regarding B'nai B'rith's image as a "Secret Society." Those in favor of retaining the status quo rightly stated that B'nai B'rith was not secret organization in the sense challengers alleged: It had no secrets that were objectionable to any government, merely matters of internal government and ceremony that were of a private nature. Over the course of the next two years, however, the question of secrecy was debated within B'nai B'rith, and secrecy was officially abandoned in 1920.

B'nai B'rith has assisted in the face of many natural disasters world wide, including in the United States, the Chicago fire (1871), Charleston, South Carolina (1886), Johnstown flood (1889), and Florida hurricane (1926). San Francisco was the beneficiary of B'nai B'rith's disaster relief in the wake of the April 18, 1906 earthquake and fire. The fire had completely destroyed the B'nai B'rith Hall and library, including all the records of the ten San Francisco lodges and most of the records of District No. 4. (Grusd, at 138.) Money that poured in from other districts obviated the need for a District No. 4 direct relief fund call; it did issue a call for money to institute a loan fund which proved a great aid to members seeking to reestablish themselves after the great earthquake and fire. (Id.)

Showing great resilience, District No. 4's Los Angeles Lodge took the lead in establishing a Hebrew Orphan's Home in 1908. (Grusd, at 139.)

In 1915 San Francisco had recovered from the Great Earthquake and fire, risen Phoenix like from the ashes and to mark its reemergence was hosting the world at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Within B'nai B'rith, District No. 4 showed its full recovery by hosting the next general CGL convention in 1915. (Grusd, at 154.) At the General Convention, $25,000 was appropriated to create a Social Service Bureau. (Grusd, at 154.)

B'nai B'rith maintained a policy of neutrality with respect to the issue of Zionism. Nevertheless, in December 1917, an editorial statement regarding the Balfour Declaration compared its significance to no less dramatic an historical event than the edict of Cyrus the Great. (Grusd, at 159.)

To combat anti-Semitism B'nai B'rith established the Anti-Defamation League ("ADL") in 1913, five years after the idea had been proposed. A moving force behind the creation of the ADL was a young lawyer in Bloomington, Illinois, Sigmund Livingston. The ADL's purpose was twofold, to educate the public about Jews and fight anti-Semitism.

In 1923, as a result of the efforts of Rabbi Benjamin Frankel, the first Hillel Foundation was created to assist Jewish college students appreciate the richness of their Jewish heritage. (Grusd, at 176.) Approaching B'nai B'rith with the idea and hope that Hillel Foundations could be spread beyond Illinois. The idea was embraced and the foundation became the B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation: It soon spread to the University of Wisconsin. (Grusd, at 178.) The fifth B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation was started at the University of California. (Grusd, at 187.)

Soon, through another man's individual initiative B'nai B'rith sought to bring the same appreciation of Jewish heritage to a younger group. In 1925 B'nai B'rith adopted as its official boy's order Ahavo, Zedakah, Achdut (Love, Charity, Unity) or Aleph Zadek Aleph ("AZA") which had been founded as a local club for Jewish youth in 1923 by Omaha Nebraska attorney Sam Beber and had grown into a network of chapters. (Grusd, at 179.) In 1927, the first girls group similar to AZA was started in San Francisco, California by Rose Mauser under the sponsorship of what is now San Francisco B'nai B'rith Women's Chapter No. 1. The first advisors of the new girl's group were Mattie Olcovich and Essie Solomon. By 1940 the girls groups were incorporated into the Women's Supreme Council of B'nai B'rith as the B'nai B'rith Girls ("BBG"). Separate groups for older members of AZA and BBG were subsequently formed. In 1944 B'nai B'rith created the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization to oversee the four youth groups. The groups seek to encourage members to appreciate and synthesize the best in Jewish and American culture.

The next General Convention following the stock market crash of October 1929, was held in Cincinnati, OH, in 1930. (Grusd, at 189.) One act taken at that General Convention was shortening the name of the Order from "Independent Order of B'nai B'rith," to simply "B'nai B'rith." (Grusd, at 190.) In the face of declining American membership (which decline had begun in 1927), the national organization lured the executive secretary of District No. 4, Richard E. Gutstadt, away to become the Order's first national membership director. (Grusd, at 191.) The Great Depression was not solely responsible for the decline in membership at this period:

...Jewish community life had become so complex that many of the services B'nai B'rith had once rendered were being conducted locally by all kinds of organizations; that the lodge as a place of social gathering had lost the importance it once had; and that the interest of people in philanthropic institutions was in direct ration to their geographic closeness. (Grusd, at 192.)

With the rise of the Nazi's to power in Germany, B'nai B'rith, Inc. (incorporated in 1935) bravely continued to function in Germany. When the Nazis ordered all German units of international organizations to liquidate themselves, Masons, Odd Fellows, and other Lodges obeyed, but B'nai B'rith stated its resolve to continue its Lodges and charitable institutions. (Grusd, at 208.) B'nai B'rith managed to continue functioning until April 1937 when Storm troopers raided its Berlin building and Lodge quarters and philanthropic institutions throughout the country, confiscating all property, bank accounts. (Grusd, at 213-214.)

B'nai B'rith and the ADL were active fighting anti-Semitism during both World Wars. During the First World War B'nai B'rith was able to maintain fairly normal mail contact with European lodges. In 1915, a permanent Emergency Relief Fund was created by the Order to respond to such problems as disasters as the burning of the Jewish section of Constantinople: Funds were raised by assessing every member a given sum each year as part of their dues. Also, that year marked the end of taxing members for the support of charitable institutions. During the 1920's (an era noted for the development of service organizations such as Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, and the Civitian Club), B'nai B'rith began shifting the emphasis of its programs toward creating positive, vital and creative American Jewish community participation, without abandoning its previously emphasized fraternalism and philanthropy. In 1938, a refugee aid service was established as part of B'nai B'rith's efforts to combat world anti-Semitism: The refugee aid service helped many people escape Germany and other countries under Nazi domination. Throughout the war years, B'nai B'rith was active in advocating for human rights and against atrocities being committed against Jews in Europe. B'nai B'rith was also a major benefactor of the Red Cross, contributing in excess of $250,000 in gifts and equipment from B'nai B'rith to the Red Cross.

During World War II, B'nai B'rith assisted the war effort in many, substantial ways. An example of one of the smaller, but significant contributions was "B'nai B'rith's San Francisco Lodge that provided food, lodging, and entertainment for servicemen at a Hospitality House it maintained during the four-year period." (Grusd, at 227.) Following the end of the war, B'nai B'rith was recognized by governments around the world for the extensive aid it provided in the form of food, clothing and medical supplies. (Grusd, at 238.) The United States Navy awarded B'nai B'rith

After World War II, B'nai B'rith played an important role in negotiating and distributing reparations from Germany for the tremendous material losses inflicted upon European Jewry by the Nazi regime. B'nai B'rith, as part of a committee of Jewish organizations, gained consultative status with an agency of the United Nations. B'nai B'rith has continued to use its influence around the world to intervene on behalf of human rights.

A former national President of B'nai B'rith, Leo N. Levi, writing in 1884, may have best summarized how B'nai B'rith fit the fraternal landscape, especially as the first and foremost Jewish fraternity:

The Independent Order of B'nai B'rith does not derive universal support among the Jews. It is not fashionable. Like all organizations that are democratic and catholic in their make-up and operations, it has excited hostility in the breasts of those who are exclusive, and disposed to set themselves upon a plane higher than that occupied by the general mass of their fellows. It is further opposed because at times it has taken up work not calculated to arouse the loftiest sentiments and has occasionally been diverted from its best missions. Moreover, it has had among its leaders, from time to time, some men who were personally unpopular, ... for want of better leadership it has, time and again, fallen into a state of inertia which indicated to the superficial observer that it had outlived its usefulness. That it has survived all these adversities should excite serious reflection in the minds of every Jew having at heart the future welfare of his people. This brotherhood, like all human organizations, is full of infirmities, but these are either accidental or incidental and not inherent, and underlying all and pervading all is a vital and enduring force which called it into being and will perpetuate it as long as that principle is dear to our people. This vital and enduring force is philanthropy, not upon any narrow grounds, but upon the broadest principles of humanity - a philanthropy that looks to succoring the widow and the orphan, the poor and the needy, the helpless and the distressed; to encouraging science, literature, and art, to elevating the mental and moral nature of our race. ... The mission of B'nai B'rith is not ended, nor will it be as long as grave problems confront our people. The first and most successful Jewish fraternal order will not perish from the earth, although it may lie dormant at times for lack of leaders among us quick to perceive the problems that beset us, and ready to labor for their solution.

Memorial Volume: Leo N. Levi, I.O.B.B., p. 175 (Hamburger Printing Co., Chicago, IL, 1905)