B'nai B'rith

{{short description|International Jewish service organization}}
{{primary|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = B'nai B'rith International
| native_name = בְּנֵי בְּרִית
| native_name_lang = he-n
| image = B'nai B'rith International logo.png
| predecessor = Independent Order of B'nai B'rith (and many others)
| formation = {{Start date and age|1843|10|13|df=y}}
| type = [[Non-governmental organization|NGO]]
| tax_id = 53-0179971
| leader_title = President
| leader_name = Seth J. Riklin
| leader_title2 = {{Abbr|C.E.O.|Chief Executive Officer}}
| leader_name2 = Daniel S. Mariaschin
| leader_name3 = Brad Adolph
| leader_title3 = {{Abbr|Vice Chairman|Vice Chairman of the Executive Board of Directors}}
| location = [[Washington, D.C.]]
| website= {{URL|https://www.bnaibrith.org/}}
}}

'''B'nai B'rith International''' ({{IPAc-en|b|ə|ˌ|n|eɪ|_|ˈ|b|r|ɪ|θ}} {{respell|bə|NAY|_|BRITH}};<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 5, 2018 |title=AP-News Pronunciation Guide A-C |url=https://apnews.com/article/3af0b40f9bd6437fae651062a60d4efc |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104131246/https://apnews.com/article/3af0b40f9bd6437fae651062a60d4efc |archive-date=January 4, 2021 |access-date=May 13, 2023 |website=AP News}}</ref> from {{lang-he|בְּנֵי בְּרִית|translit=b'né brit|lit=Children of the [[Covenant (biblical)|Covenant]]}})<ref>{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Judaism |page=61 |publisher=Infobase Publishing |year=2006|author=Sara E. Karesh, Mitchell M. Hurvitz}}</ref> is a [[501(c)(3) organization|501(c)(3)]] [[Nonprofit organization|nonprofit]]<ref>{{cite web |title=B Nai B Rith |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/530179971 |website=projects.propublica.org |publisher=[[Propublica]] |access-date=30 November 2023}}</ref> [[Judaism|Jewish]] [[service organization]] and was formerly a [[History of the Jews in Germany|German Jewish]] cultural association.<ref>{{Cite web |year=2001 |title=Germans |url=https://virtualny.ashp.cuny.edu/EncyNYC/germans.html |access-date=2023-07-22 |website=Virtual New York |publisher=[[Graduate Center, CUNY]]}}</ref> B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the [[Jews|Jewish people]] and the State of [[Israel]] and combating [[antisemitism]] and other forms of bigotry. 
[[File:B'nai B'rith membership certificate 1876.jpg|thumb|Independent Order of B'nai B'rith membership certificate (1876), the predecessor organization to B'nai B'rith International.|alt=]]
Although the organization's historic roots stem from a system of [[Fraternity|fraternal]] lodges and units in the late 19th century, as fraternal organizations declined throughout the United States, the organization evolved into a dual system of both lodges and units.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bnaibrith.org/about-us.html |title=About B'nai B'rith International |publisher=B'nai B'rith International}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated252">{{Cite book|title=B'nai B'rith and the Challenge of Ethnic Leadership|page=252|publisher=by State University of New York Press, Albany|year=1981|author=Deborah Dash}}</ref> The membership pattern became more common to other contemporary organizations of members affiliated by contribution in addition to formal dues paying members. B'nai B'rith has members, donors and supporters around the world.

==History==
B'nai B'rith was founded in Aaron Sinsheimer's café in [[New York City]]'s [[Lower East Side]] on October 13, 1843, by 12 recent German Jewish immigrants led by Henry Jones.<ref name="autogenerated252"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bnaibrithinternational.podbean.com/e/ken-ackerman-on-bnai-briths-early-days-in-1840s-new-york-city/ |title=Ken Ackerman on B'nai B'rith's Early Days in 1840s New York City |website=B'nai B'rith International |language=en |access-date=2020-11-23}}</ref> It was organized as a secret [[Masonic lodge|lodge]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://portal.ehri-project.eu/units/us-005578-irn507373-irn611865|title="Daughter" Lodges of the Great Lodge of Germany of the Jewish Order, B'nai B'rith Bnei Brith-Tochterlogen in Deutschland (Fond 1219)|publisher=[[Europea Holocaust Research Infrastrutture]]|language=en|access-date=October 13, 2023|quote=It was founded in New York in 1843 as a secret lodge of twelve Jewish immigrants from Germany and is dedicated to self-promotion of tolerance, humanity and welfare.[...] With grand lodges, main boxes and districts , B'nai B'rith is similar to Freemasonry, but does not see itself as associated with this movement.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013085657/https://portal.ehri-project.eu/units/us-005578-irn507373-irn611865|archive-date=October 13, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> The new organization represented an attempt to organize Jews of the local community to confront what Isaac Rosenbourg, one of the founders, called "the deplorable condition of Jews in this, our newly adopted country".<ref name="bnaibrith1">{{cite web |title=B'nai B'rith International |url=http://bnaibrith.org/about_us/bbi_roots.cfm |url-status=dead |publisher=Bnaibrith.org |access-date=2012-02-03 |archive-date=2011-05-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518044125/http://www.bnaibrith.org/about_us/bbi_roots.cfm }}</ref> The new group's purpose, as described in its constitution, called for the traditional functions performed by Jewish societies in Europe: "Visiting and attending the sick" and "protecting and assisting the widow and the orphan." Its founders had hoped that it soon would encompass all Jews in the United States, but this did not happen, since other Jewish organizations also were forming around the same time.<ref name="LilienChange">[[Alfred Lilienthal|Alfred M. Lilienthal]], ''[http://www.wrmea.com/backissues/0693/9306018.htm The Changing Role of B'nai B'rith's Anti-Defamation League]'', [[WRMEA]], June 1993, p.18</ref>

The German-speaking founders originally named the organization Bundes-Brüder (German for "Brothers of the Covenant")<ref name=Shengold>{{cite encyclopedia |title= B'nai B'rith |encyclopedia= The Shengold Jewish Encyclopedia: Digital Edition |date= 2 February 2014 |publisher= Shengold Publishers |url= http://shengold.com/bnai-brith/ |access-date=9 February 2021}}</ref> to reflect their goal of a [[Fraternity|fraternal]] order that could provide comfort to the entire spectrum of Jewish Americans.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Judaism|page=61|publisher=Infobase Publishing|year=2006|author=Sara E. Karesh and Mitchell M. Hurvitz}}</ref> Although early meetings were conducted in German, after a short time English emerged as the language of choice and the name was changed to B'nai B'rith. In the late 20th century, the translation was changed to the more contemporary and inclusive Children of the Covenant.

Despite its fraternal and local beginnings, B'nai B'rith spoke out for Jewish rights early in its history and used its growing national chain of lodges as a way to exercise political influence on behalf of world Jewry. In 1851, for example, it circulated petitions urging [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Daniel Webster]] to demand the end of [[Disabilities (Jewish)|Jewish disabilities]] in Switzerland, during on-going trade negotiations. Into the 1920s the B'nai B'rith continued in its political work by joining in Jewish delegations and lobbying efforts through which [[American Jews]] sought to influence public policy, both domestic and foreign. B'nai B'rith also played a crucial role in transnational Jewish politics. The later spread of the organization around the world made it a nerve center of intra-Jewish communication and mutual endeavor.<ref>Hasia R. Diner, [https://books.google.com/books?id=JRQGybN2eboC&pg= ''The Jews of the United States, 1654 to 2000''], p.191</ref>

[[File:Religious Liberty by Jacob Moses Ezekiel.jpg|thumb|''[[Religious Liberty (Ezekiel)|Religious Liberty]]'', a statue commissioned by B'Nai B'rith for the 1876 [[Centennial Exposition]] and dedicated "to the people of the United States". By [[Moses Jacob Ezekiel]], a B'nai B'rith member and the first American Jewish sculptor to gain international prominence.]]

===1843 to early 1900s===
The organization's activities during the 19th and 20th centuries were dominated by mutual aid, social service and [[philanthropy]]. In keeping with their concerns for protecting their families, the organization's first concrete action was the establishment of an [[insurance policy]] awarding [[widow]]s of deceased members $30 toward [[funeral]] expenses and a [[stipend]] of $1 a week for the rest of their life. To aid their children, each child would also receive a stipend and, for male children, the assurance he would be taught a trade.<ref name="bnaibrith1"/>

In 1851, [[Covenant Hall]] was erected in [[New York City]] as the first Jewish community center in the United States, and also what is widely considered to be the first Jewish public library in the United States.<ref name="autogenerated252"/> One year later, B'nai B'rith established the [[Maimonides]] Library.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3437-b-nai-b-rith |title=B'nai B'rith |publisher=[[JewishEncyclopedia.com]] }}</ref> Immediately following the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]—when Jews on both sides of the battle were left homeless—B'nai B'rith founded the 200-bed [[Cleveland Jewish Orphan Home]]. Over the next several years, the organization would establish numerous [[hospital]]s, [[orphanage]]s and homes for the aged.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Independent Orders of B'nai B'rith and True Sisters: Pioneers of a New Jewish Identity 1843–1914|page=138|publisher=[[Wayne State University Press]]|year=2011|author=[[Cornelia Wilhelm]]}}</ref>

In 1868, when a devastating flood crippled [[Cheswolde, Baltimore|Baltimore]], B'nai B'rith responded with a disaster relief campaign. This act preceded the founding of the [[American Red Cross]] by 13 years and was to be the first of many domestic relief programs. That same year, B'nai B'rith sponsored its first overseas philanthropic project raising $4,522 to aid the victims of a [[cholera]] [[epidemic]] in Ottoman Palestine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/|title=B'nai B'rith International|website=B'nai B'rith International}}</ref>

In 1875, a lodge was established in [[Toronto]], followed soon after by another in [[Montreal]] and in 1882 by a lodge in [[Berlin]]. Membership outside of the United States grew rapidly. Soon, lodges were formed in [[Cairo]] (1887) and in [[Jerusalem]] (1888—nine years before [[Theodor Herzl]] convened the [[First Zionist Congress]] in [[Basel]], [[Switzerland]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/First_Cong_&_Basel_Program.html |title=The First Zionist Congress and the Basel Program |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |access-date=2022-02-18 |archive-date=2016-12-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206181644/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Zionism/First_Cong_%26_Basel_Program.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Jerusalem lodge became the first public organization to hold all of its meetings in Hebrew.<ref>{{cite book|first=Hasia R.|last=Diner|title=The Jews of the United States: 1654 to 2000|url=https://archive.org/details/jewsofunitedstat00dine|url-access=registration|access-date=10 December 2012|year=2004|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-22773-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/jewsofunitedstat00dine/page/191 191]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Independent Orders of B'nai B'rith and True Sisters: Pioneers of a New Jewish Identity 1843-1914|page=172|publisher=Wayne State University Press|year=2011|author=Cornelia Wilhelm}}</ref>

After 1881, with the mass immigration of Eastern European Jews to the United States,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/polish5.html |title=Immigration ... Polish/Russian: A People at Risk |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120804022414/http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/polish5.html |archive-date=2012-08-04 |access-date=2020-11-22 |url-status=dead}}</ref> B'nai B'rith sponsored Americanization classes, [[vocational school|trade school]]s and relief programs. This began a period of rapid membership growth, a change in the system of representation and questioning of the secret rituals common to [[secret society|fraternal organization]]s. In 1897, when the organization's U.S. membership numbered slightly more than 18,000, B'nai B'rith formed a [[ladies' auxiliary]] chapter in [[San Francisco]]. This was to become [[B'nai B'rith Women]], which in 1988 broke away as an independent organization, [[Jewish Women International]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jwi.org/Page.aspx?pid=272 |title=Our History – Who We Are |publisher=JWI |date=2012-07-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527065712/http://www.jwi.org/Page.aspx?pid=272 |archive-date=2011-05-27 }}</ref>

===Early 20th century===
In response to the [[Kishinev pogrom]] in 1903,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yivoinstitute.org/digital_exhibitions/index.php?mcid=69&oid=10 |title=YIVO Institute for Jewish Research {{pipe}} The Kishinev Pogrom of 1903: On the Occasion of the 100th Anniversary |publisher=Yivoinstitute.org |access-date=2012-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110220233218/http://www.yivoinstitute.org/digital_exhibitions/index.php?mcid=69&oid=10 |archive-date=2011-02-20 }}</ref> President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and Secretary of State [[John Hay]] met with B'nai B'rith's executive committee in Washington, D.C. B'nai B'rith President [[Simon Wolf]] presented the draft of a petition to be sent to the Russian government protesting the lack of opposition to the massacre. Roosevelt readily agreed to transmit it and B'nai B'rith lodges began gathering signatures around the country.

In the first two decades of the 20th century, B'nai B'rith launched three of today's major Jewish organizations: The [[Anti-Defamation League]] (ADL), [[Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life|Hillel]] and [[BBYO]] (originally B'nai B'rith Youth Organization). Later, they would take on a life of their own with varying degrees of autonomy.

A growing concern in the 1920s was the preservation of Jewish values as immigration slowed and a native Jewish population of Eastern European ancestry came to maturity.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vigdor |first1=Jacob |title=Civic Report No. 53: Measuring Immigrant Assimilation in the United States |url=http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_53.htm |website=[[Manhattan Institute for Policy Research]] |access-date=December 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908033733/http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cr_53.htm |archive-date=2012-09-08 |date=May 2008}}{{cbignore}}<!-- while the original url is live, it does not link directly to the full report; by comparison, the archived url links directly to a web-friendly version of the report, thus use cbignore to prohibit bots from adjusting the url-status --></ref> In 1923, [[Benjamin Frankel (rabbi)|Rabbi Benjamin Frankel]] of Illinois established [[Hillel at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign|Hillel]] – an organization on the campus of the [[University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign]] to provide both Reform and Orthodox Sabbath services, classes in Judaism and social events for Jewish college students. Two years later, he approached B'nai B'rith about adopting this new campus organization. B'nai B'rith sponsorship of the Hillel Foundations enabled it to extend throughout the United States, eventually become international and to grow into a network of more than 500 campus student organizations.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hillel.org/NR/rdonlyres/C5146418-3638-435A-8BB9-24592F5500F9/0/hillel_history.pdf |title=Hillel History |website=[[Hillel International]] |access-date=2012-08-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212225658/http://www.hillel.org/NR/rdonlyres/C5146418-3638-435A-8BB9-24592F5500F9/0/hillel_history.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-12 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hillel.org/about/news/2008/sep/hillel_history_18september2008.htm |title=A Brief History |website=[[Hillel International]] |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120801085448/http://www.hillel.org/about/news/2008/sep/hillel_history_18september2008.htm |archive-date=2012-08-01 |date=2008-09-18 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Trammell |first1=Anna |title=Hillel: The International Jewish Organization Founded in Champaign |url=https://archives.library.illinois.edu/slc/hillel/ |website=[[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign]] |access-date=November 23, 2020 |date=February 27, 2015}}</ref>

At virtually the same time as [[Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life|Hillel]] was being established, Sam Beber of Omaha, Nebraska, presented a plan in 1924 to B'nai B'rith for a fraternity for Jewish men in high school. The new organization was called [[Aleph Zadik Aleph]] in imitation of the Greek-letter fraternities from which Jewish youth were excluded. In 1925, AZA became the junior auxiliary of B'nai B'rith.

In 1940, B'nai B'rith Women adopted its own junior auxiliary for young women, [[B'nai B'rith Girls]] (BBG, then a loose-knit group of organizations) and, in 1944, the two organizations became the [[B'nai B'rith Youth Organization]] (BBYO).

B'nai B'rith has also been involved in Jewish camping for more than a half century. In 1953, B'nai B'rith acquired a {{convert|300|acre|adj=on}} camp in Pennsylvania's [[Pocono Mountains]]. Originally named Camp B'nai B'rith, the facility would later be named B'nai B'rith Perlman Camp in honor of the early BBYO leader Anita Perlman and her husband, Louis. In 1976, a second camp was added near Madison, Wis. Named after the founder of AZA, the camp became known as [[B'nai B'rith Beber Camp]]. In 2010, Beber Camp became independent of B'nai B'rith. Perlman Camp functions as both a Jewish children's camp and as a leadership training facility.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://perlmancamp.org/all/about.shtml |title=About Perlman Camp |publisher=Perlmancamp.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721104053/http://www.perlmancamp.org/all/about.shtml |archive-date=2011-07-21 }}</ref>

In 1938 B'nai B'rith established the Vocational Service Bureau to guide young people into careers. This evolved into the B'nai B'rith Career and Counseling Service, an agency that provided vocational testing and counseling, and published career guides. In the mid-1980s, the program was dissolved or merged into other community agencies.<ref>{{cite journal|date=2012-01-03 | doi=10.1002/j.2164-5892.1946.tb00742.x |volume=24 | issue=5 |journal=Occupations: The Vocational Guidance Journal |pages=277–280 |title=The B'nai B'rith Vocational Service Program |last1=Baer |first1=Max F.}}</ref>

===1977 Hanafi siege===
{{main|1977 Washington, D.C. attack and hostage taking}}
On March 9–11, 1977, three buildings in Washington, D.C., including the headquarters of B'nai B'rith, were seized by 12 [[Black nationalism|black nationalist]] [[Nation of Islam]] gunmen, led by Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, who took 149 hostages and killed a [[radio journalist]] and a police officer. After a 39-hour standoff, all other hostages were released from the District Building (the city hall; now called the [[John A. Wilson Building]]), B'nai B'rith headquarters, and the [[Islamic Center of Washington]].

The gunmen had several demands. They "wanted the government to hand over a group of men who had been convicted of killing seven relatives – mostly children – of takeover leader Hamaas Khaalis. They also demanded that the movie ''[[The Message (1976 film)|Mohammad, Messenger of God]]'' be destroyed because they considered it sacrilegious."<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/11/AR2007031101562.html |title= 'Some Things You Never Forget': Thirty years ago, gunmen stormed three D.C. buildings, taking 150 hostages and one life |author= Theresa Vargas |newspaper= Washington Post |date= March 12, 2007 |page= B01 |access-date= March 12, 2007 <!--DASHBot-->}}</ref>

''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine noted: "That the toll was not higher was in part a tribute to the primary tactic U.S. law enforcement officials are now using to thwart terrorists—patience. But most of all, perhaps, it was due to the courageous intervention of three Muslim ambassadors, [[Egypt]]'s Ashraf Ghorbal, [[Pakistan]]'s Sahabzada Yaqub-Khan and [[Iran]]'s [[Ardeshir Zahedi]]."<ref name="time-77">{{cite news |title=The 38 Hours: Trial by Terror |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,946751,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415145539/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,946751,00.html |archive-date=2008-04-15 |date=March 21, 1977 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] magazine |url-status=dead |access-date=July 19, 2021 <!--DASHBot-->}}</ref>

== Community service ==
From its earliest days, a hallmark of the organization's local efforts was service to the communities in which members reside. In 1852, that meant raising money for the first Jewish hospital in Philadelphia.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Independent Orders of B'nai B'rith and True Sisters: Pioneers of a New Jewish Identity 1843–1914|pages=131–133|publisher=Wayne State University Press|year=2011|author=Cornelia Wilhelm}}</ref>

With the ageing of the American Jewish population, service to seniors became a major focus with the first of what was to become a network of 36 senior residence buildings in more than 27 communities across the United States and more internationally; this made B'nai B'rith the largest national Jewish sponsor of housing for seniors. The U.S. facilities, built in partnership with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), provide housing to more than 6,000 men and women of limited income, age 62 and over, of all races and religions. Residents pay a federally mandated rent based upon income.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bnaibrith.org/prog_serv/sr_housing.cfm |title=Senior Housing, B'nai B'rith International – The Global Voice of the Jewish Community |publisher=Bnaibrith.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518051451/http://www.bnaibrith.org/prog_serv/sr_housing.cfm |archive-date=2011-05-18 }}</ref>

The beginning of the 21st century also saw the senior service program expand and become the Center for Senior Services.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bnaibrith.org/centers/senior_services.cfm |title=Center for Senior Services, B'nai B'rith International – The Global Voice of the Jewish Community |publisher=Bnaibrith.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520082627/http://bnaibrith.org/centers/senior_services.cfm |archive-date=2011-05-20 }}</ref>

B'nai B'rith also includes, on its domestic agenda, tolerance issues such as advocating for hate crimes legislation as well as sponsoring a youth writing challenge, Diverse Minds. This annual writing contest asks high school students to create a children's book dedicated to the message of ending intolerance and bigotry. Winners earn college scholarships and the publication and distribution of their books to schools and libraries in their communities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnaibrith.org/prog_serv/diverse_minds.cfm |title=Diverse Minds Youth Writing Challenge, B'nai B'rith International – The Global Voice of the Jewish Community |publisher=Bnaibrith.org |access-date=2012-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725094101/http://bnaibrith.org/prog_serv/diverse_minds.cfm |archive-date=2012-07-25 }}</ref>

B'nai B'rith also sponsors the Enlighten America program, the centerpiece of which is a pledge that individuals can take to refrain from using slang expressions or telling jokes based on race, sexual orientation, gender, nationality or physical or mental challenges that would serve to demean another.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnaibrith.org/prog_serv/enlighten_america.cfm |title=Enlighten America, B'nai B'rith International – The Global Voice of the Jewish Community |publisher=Bnaibrith.org |access-date=2012-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713032720/http://www.bnaibrith.org/prog_serv/enlighten_america.cfm |archive-date=2012-07-13 }}</ref>

B'nai B'rith also produces and distributes "Smarter Kids – Safer Kids," a booklet in both English and Spanish meant to guide parents through discussions with their children about potential dangers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bnaibrith.org/prog_serv/saferkids.cfm |title=Smarter Kids – Safer Kids, B'nai B'rith International – The Global Voice of the Jewish Community |publisher=Bnaibrith.org |access-date=2012-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713032725/http://www.bnaibrith.org/prog_serv/saferkids.cfm |archive-date=2012-07-13 }}</ref>

=== Anti-defamation activities ===
The American-based international B'nai B'rith organization founded the [[Anti-Defamation League|Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith]] (ADL) as a response to attacks on Jews in the United States. The announcement of the creation of the ADL mentioned the [[Leo Frank]] lynching in particular.<ref>{{cite book|title=B'nai B'rith and the Challenge of Ethnic Leadership|last=Moore|first=Deborah Dash|publisher=State University of New York Press|year=1981|isbn=978-0-87395-480-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/bnaibrithch00moor/page/108 108]|url=https://archive.org/details/bnaibrithch00moor/page/108}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Jews in American Politics: Essays|author=Jerome A. Chanes|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2001|isbn=978-0-7425-0181-2|editor1=Louis S|page=105|chapter=Who Does What?|editor2=y Maisel|editor3=Ira N. Forman|editor4=Donald Altschiller|editor5=Charles Walker Bassett}}</ref> The ADL is now an independent organization.

In Australia and New Zealand, the local B'nai B'rith has its own human rights section, called the B'nai B'rith Anti-Defamation Commission (ADC). It is dedicated to eliminating the defamation of Jewish people, combating racism, intolerance, and prejudice. It seeks to secure justice and fair treatment for all citizens.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.antidefamation.com.au/|title=Home|website=Anti Defamation Commission}}</ref>

=== Educational programs and publications ===
Since 1886, B'nai B'rith has published B'nai B'rith Magazine, the oldest continually published Jewish periodical in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnaibrith.org/magazines |title=B'nai B'rith International – The Global Voice of the Jewish Community |publisher=Bnaibrith.org }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3438-b-nai-b-rith-messenger |title=Periodicals |publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com }}</ref>

B'nai B'rith also publishes program guides for local Jewish education programs and each year sponsors ''"Unto Every Person There is a Name"''. This program includes community recitations of the names of Holocaust victims, usually on Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/remembrance/2011/every_person.asp |title=Fragments of Memory. Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day 2011 |publisher=Yad Vashem |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505022234/http://www1.yadvashem.org/yv/en/remembrance/2011/every_person.asp |archive-date=2011-05-05 }}</ref>

In 1973, the organization converted a former exhibit hall at its Washington, D.C. headquarters into the B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum. The museum featured an extensive collection of Jewish ceremonial objects and art and, for decades featured the 1790 correspondence between George Washington and Moses Seixas, sexton of the [[Touro Synagogue]] in [[Newport, Rhode Island]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm006.html |title=To Bigotry No Sanction (Memory): American Treasures of the Library of Congress |publisher=Loc.gov |date=2010-07-27  |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120804080032/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm006.html |archive-date=2012-08-04 |access-date=2021-07-19}}</ref> Although the organization's move from its own building to rented offices necessitated closing of the museum to public view, select pieces of the collection are still on display at B'nai B'rith's current headquarters and are available for viewing by appointment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bnaibrith.org/prog_serv/museum.cfm |title=B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum and Philip Lax Archive (B'nai B'rith Archives) |publisher=Bnaibrith.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518051019/http://www.bnaibrith.org/prog_serv/museum.cfm |archive-date=2011-05-18 }}</ref>

===Scholarships===
Every year, B'nai B'rith awards the Sally R. Schneider scholarship to a Jewish female graduate student who is studying in a field that will benefit humankind. The scholarship, which is worth $1,000, is named after Sally Schneider, a longtime B'nai B'rith member who was passionate about pro-Israel advocacy and women's education.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bnaibrith.org/5/post/2019/02/bnai-brith-announces-2019-sally-r-schneider-scholarship-for-new-york-city-area-student.html|title=B'nai B'rith Announces 2019 Sally R. Schneider Scholarship for New York City-Area Student|website=B'nai B'rith International|language=en|access-date=2019-08-01}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Local B'nai B'rith lodges also award scholarships. B'nai B'rith Great Lakes holds an annual golf classic, the proceeds of which fund several college scholarships each year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/bnai-brith-great-lakes-scholarship-program.html|title=B'nai B'rith Great Lakes Scholarship Program|website=B'nai B'rith International|language=en|access-date=2019-08-01}}</ref>

=== Philatelic services ===
In affiliation with the [[United States Postal Service]], the B'nai B'rith Philatelic Service was involved in releasing a series of [[first day of issue]] stamps relating to prominent Jewish entrepreneurs, philanthropists, entertainers, and various Jewish organizations throughout the country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://digital.cjh.org/view/action/singleViewer.do?dvs=1566593933032~894&locale=en_GB&VIEWER_URL=/view/action/singleViewer.do?&DELIVERY_RULE_ID=6&frameId=1&usePid1=true&usePid2=true |title=B'nai B'rith Philatelic collection 1957–1994 (I-427) |website=[[Center for Jewish History]] |publisher=[[American Jewish Historical Society]], New York, NY, and Boston, MA. |via=Digitool Viewer |access-date=August 24, 2019 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

=== Disaster relief ===
B'nai B'rith has responded to natural and manmade disasters since 1865, when it assisted victims of a cholera epidemic in what was then Palestine.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnaibrith.org/disaster-relief.html |title=B'nai B'rith International – The Global Voice of the Jewish Community |publisher=Bnaibrith.org |access-date=2013-02-15}}</ref> B'nai B'rith later raised funds and distributed them to those affected by the [[Great Chicago Fire of 1871]], the [[1900 Galveston hurricane|Galveston, Texas, flood of 1900]] and the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Disaster Relief |url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/support/disaster_relief.cfm |website=B'nai B'rith International |access-date=2020-04-08 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20100519180037/http://bnaibrith.org/support/disaster_relief.cfm |archive-date=2010-05-19 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{cbignore|bot=InternetArchiveBot}}

In recent years, the B'nai B'rith Disaster Relief Fund responded to the 2010 earthquakes in [[2010 Haiti earthquake|Haiti]] and [[2010 Chile earthquake|Chile]],<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/press-releases/bnai-brith-international-provides-disaster-relief-in-haiti |title=B'nai B'rith International Provides Disaster Relief in Haiti |publisher=B'nai B'rith International |date=13 January 2010 |access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref><ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/press-releases/bnai-brith-international-provides-disaster-relief-in-chile |title=B'nai B'rith International Provides Disaster Relief in Chile |publisher=B'nai B'rith International |date=3 March 2010 |access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref> the [[2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami|2011 Japan tsunami]]<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/press-releases/bnai-brith-opens-disaster-relief-fund-to-aid-japan |title=B'nai B'rith Opens Disaster Relief Fund to Aid Japan |publisher=B'nai B'rith International |date=11 March 2011 |access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref> and the [[Tornado outbreak sequence of May 21–26, 2011|multiple tornadoes and subsequent flooding]] that hit six states in the South and Midwest in 2011.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/press-releases/bnai-brith-extends-disaster-relief-fund-to-aid-victims-of-joplin-mo-tornado-part-of-bnai-briths-us-flood-and-tornado-relief-fund-2011 |title=B'nai B'rith Extends Disaster Relief Fund To Aid Victims Of Joplin, Mo., Tornado; Part of B'nai B'rith's U.S. Flood and Tornado Relief Fund 2011 |publisher=B'nai B'rith International |date=24 May 2011 |access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref> B'nai B'rith also opened a disaster relief fund following [[Mount Carmel forest fire (2010)|the fires]] that raged through [[Mount Carmel]] in northern Israel<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/press-releases/bnai-brith-opens-israel-emergency-fund-to-aid-victims-of-forest-fire |title=B'nai B'rith Opens Israel Emergency Fund to Aid Victims of Forest Fire |publisher=B'nai B'rith International |date=3 December 2010 |access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref> and another fund to help victims of the worst drought to hit East Africa in more than 50 years.<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/press-releases/bnai-brith-opens-disaster-relief-fund-to-aid-famine-victims-in-east-africa |title=B'nai B'rith Opens Disaster Relief Fund To Aid Famine Victims In East Africa |publisher=B'nai B'rith International |date=27 July 2011 |access-date=2020-04-03}}</ref>

In Haiti, B'nai B'rith raised $250,000 for shoes, medicine, health supplies and other needs immediately following the [[2010 Haiti earthquake|January 2010 earthquake]] that struck the island nation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnaibrith.org/--haiti.html |title=B'nai B'rith International – The Global Voice of the Jewish Community |publisher=Bnaibrith.org |access-date=2013-02-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303132649/http://www.bnaibrith.org/--haiti.html |archive-date=2013-03-03 }}</ref>

Following [[Hurricane Sandy]] in 2012, B'nai B'rith's Young Professional Network in New York immediately began assisting in the cleanup. Members descended upon the Rockaways, and over several days helped remove debris and sand from buildings, extract moldy drywall and insulation, and remove water damaged furniture and appliances from homes. B'nai B'rith has also organised several fundraisers for future rebuilding projects.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnaibrith.org/5/post/2012/10/bnai-brith-international-opens-disaster-relief-fund-to-aid-victims-of-massive-hurricane-sandy.html |title=B'nai B'rith International – The Global Voice of the Jewish Community |publisher=Bnaibrith.org |access-date=2012-10-30}}</ref>

Working with IsraAid, a Zionist humanitarian organization which brings together Israeli and Jewish organizations to form coordinated responses in the wake of humanitarian crises, the B'nai B'rith Disaster Relief Fund allocated funds to survivors of the [[2018 flooding in Japan]].<ref name="Worldwide Disaster Relief">{{cite web |url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/worldwide-disaster-relief.html |title=Worldwide Disaster Relief |website=B'nai B'rith International |language=en |access-date=2019-08-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801175116/https://www.bnaibrith.org/worldwide-disaster-relief.html |archive-date=2019-08-01 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The B'nai B'rith Disaster Relief Fund also helped after two US disasters, one in California and the other in Hawaii, in 2018. Wildfires struck communities [[2018 California wildfires|in Southern California]], and B'nai B'rith contributed to the disaster recovery by assisting with the costs of food, utility bills and medical supplies for the Idyllwild HELP Center. Normally, the HELP Center is a charity and thrift store that helps needy individuals and families with the costs of food, utilities, housing and other basic needs. In the aftermath of the wildfires, the center helped fire victims.<ref name="Worldwide Disaster Relief"/>

In May 2019, the B'nai B'rith Center for Senior Services (CSS) held its annual B'nai B'rith Managers and Service Coordinators Training meeting in Puerto Rico, which is still recovering from damage caused by 2017's [[Hurricane Maria]]. In choosing to hold the meeting in Puerto Rico, the CSS team wanted to contribute to both Puerto Rico's short-term recovery, by volunteering for a day of service with local non-profit organizations during their trip, and its long-term economic recovery, by bringing business to the island.<ref name="Worldwide Disaster Relief"/>

==International affairs==
B'nai B'rith was present at the founding of the United Nations in San Francisco and has taken an active role in the world body ever since.<ref name="bnaibrith1"/> In 1947, the organization was granted non-governmental organizational (NGO) status and, for many years, was the only Jewish organization with full-time representation at the United Nations. It is credited with a role in the U.N. reversal of its [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3379|1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.jta.org/article/1985/11/05/3002598/world-jewry-mobilizing-in-effort-to-repeal-un-zionismracism-resolution |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707132101/http://archive.jta.org/article/1985/11/05/3002598/world-jewry-mobilizing-in-effort-to-repeal-un-zionismracism-resolution |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-07 |title=World Jewry Mobilizing in Effort to Repeal UN Zionism-racism Resolution |publisher=Archive.jta.org |date=1985-11-05 |access-date=2012-07-23 }}</ref>

B'nai B'rith also has worked with US officials in the State Department, in Congress, and with other governments to support the efforts of the [[Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe]] (OSCE) to combat antisemitism. With members in more than 20 Latin American countries, the organization was the first Jewish group to be accorded civil society status at the [[Organization of American States]] (OAS), where it has advocated for democracy and human rights throughout the region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bnaibrith.org/world/oas.cfm |title=Organization of American States, B'nai B'rith International – The Global Voice of the Jewish Community |publisher=Bnaibrith.org |access-date=2012-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713031351/http://www.bnaibrith.org/world/oas.cfm |archive-date=2012-07-13 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.civil-society.oas.org/Permanent%20Council/CP-doc-3210-99rev1.htm |title=Civil Society List, English |publisher=Civil-society.oas.org |access-date=2012-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525030708/http://www.civil-society.oas.org/Permanent%20Council/CP-doc-3210-99rev1.htm |archive-date=2013-05-25 }}</ref>

In addition to its advocacy efforts, B'nai B'rith maintains a program of community service throughout Latin America. In 2002, in cooperation with the Brother's Brother Foundation, B'nai B'rith distributed more than $31 million worth of medicine, books and supplies to [[Argentina]], [[Uruguay]], [[Paraguay]] and [[Venezuela]] following the economic disaster that struck much of Latin America. Through 2011 the program had distributed more than $100 million in medicine and supplies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brothersbrother.org/02_argentina.htm |title=Medical Shipment to Argentina |publisher=Brothersbrother.org |access-date=2012-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731122945/http://www.brothersbrother.org/02_argentina.htm |archive-date=2012-07-31 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://israaid.co.il/Story.aspx?ID=145 |title=IsraAID |publisher=IsraAID |access-date=2012-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120712110411/http://israaid.co.il/Story.aspx?ID=145 |archive-date=2012-07-12 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brothersbrother.org/08_earlymarch.htm |title=Shipments to Kenya, Africa and Paraguay, South America |publisher=Brothersbrother.org |access-date=2012-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731142551/http://www.brothersbrother.org/08_earlymarch.htm |archive-date=2012-07-31 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnaibrith.org/165/comm_ser.cfm |title=B'nai B'rith International – The Global Voice of the Jewish Community |publisher=Bnaibrith.org |access-date=2012-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226063816/http://www.bnaibrith.org/165/comm_ser.cfm |archive-date=2012-02-26 }}</ref>

=== Europe ===
{{See|B'nai B'rith Europe}}
By the 1920s, B'nai B'rith membership in Europe had grown to 17,500, nearly half of the U.S. membership, and by the next decade, the formation of a lodge in [[Shanghai]] (number 1102) represented the organization's entry into the Far East.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/KhaosOdenslandArchiveDocstheMisanthropicMisogynist/EncyclopaediaJudaicaV.04blu-cof_djvu.txt |title=Full text of "Khaos Odensland Archive DOCS (The Misanthropic Misogynist)" |access-date=2012-07-23}}</ref> The Shanghai lodge established the [[Eye and ENT Hospital of Fudan University|B'nai B'rith Foundation Polyclinic]] in 1934, later renamed the Shanghai Jewish Hospital.<ref name="Malek2017">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oicxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT306|title=From Kaifeng to Shanghai: Jews in China|last=Malek|first=Roman|date=2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-56628-5|page=306}}</ref>

B'nai B'rith Europe was re-founded in 1948. Members of the Basel and Zurich lodges and representatives from lodges in France and Netherlands who had survived the Holocaust attended the inaugural meeting. In 2000, the new European B'nai B'rith district merged with the United Kingdom district to become a consolidated B'nai B'rith Europe with active involvement in all institutions of the European Union. By 2005 B'nai B'rith Europe comprised lodges in more than 20 countries including the former Communist Eastern Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnaibritheurope.org/bbeurope/en |title=Welcome to the B'nai B'rith Europe website |publisher=Bnaibritheurope.org |access-date=2012-07-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbuk.org/ |title=Home |publisher=Bbuk.org |access-date=2012-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116114246/https://bbuk.org/ |archive-date=2019-01-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1943, in response to what would later become known as the Holocaust, B'nai B'rith President [[Henry Monsky]] convened a conference in [[Pittsburgh]] of all major Jewish organizations to "find a common platform for the presentation of our case before the civilized nations of the world".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Troen|first1=S Ilan|last2=Pinkus|first2=Benjamin|title=Organizing Rescue: National Jewish Solidarity in the Modern Period|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=idY2LUHAjFQC|access-date=10 December 2012|year=1992|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-7146-3413-5|page=326}}</ref>

=== Israel and the Middle East ===
{{See|B'nai B'rith Israel}}
Just prior to the creation of the State of [[Israel]], President [[Harry S. Truman]], resisting pressure by various organizations, declined meetings with Jewish leaders. B'nai B'rith President Frank Goldman convinced fellow B'nai B'rith member Eddie Jacobson, long-time friend and business partner of the president, to appeal to Truman for a favor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hstpaper/granoff.htm |title=A. J. Granoff Papers |publisher=Truman Library |access-date=2012-07-23}}</ref> Jacobson convinced Truman to meet secretly with Zionist leader [[Chaim Weizmann]] in a meeting said to have resulted in turning White House support back in favor of partition, and ultimately to de facto recognition of Israeli statehood.<ref>{{cite book|title=B'nai B'rith: The Story of a Covenant|page=243|publisher=Appleton-Century|year=1966|author=Edward E. Grusd}}</ref>

In addition to founding the Jerusalem Lodge in 1888, life in Israel has been a prime focus for the organization.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bnaibrith.org/magazines/winter2008/Israeli_Embassy.cfm |title=BBI Recognizes Israeli Embassy for Public Work, Historical Link – B'nai B'rith International – The Global Voice of the Jewish Community |publisher=Bnaibrith.org |access-date=2012-07-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423142003/http://bnaibrith.org/magazines/winter2008/Israeli_Embassy.cfm |archive-date=2012-04-23 }}</ref> Among the Jerusalem lodge's most noted contributions was the city's first free public library, Midrash Abarbanel.<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of library and information science, Volume 39|page=222|publisher=Marcel Dekker Inc.|year=1985|author=[[Allen Kent]] and Harold Lancour}}</ref>

In 1959, B'nai B'rith became the first major American Jewish organization to hold a convention in Israel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bnaibrith.org/unbrokencovenant/5CovntBK_pgs15_22.pdf |title=B'nai Brith Unbroken covenant pages 15 – 22 |publisher=B'nai Brith |access-date=2012-08-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201000208/http://www.bnaibrith.org/unbrokencovenant/5CovntBK_pgs15_22.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-01 }}</ref>

In 1980, nearly all nations removed their embassies from Jerusalem in response to the passage by the Knesset of the Jerusalem Law extending Israeli sovereignty over the entire city. B'nai B'rith responded with the establishment of the B'nai B'rith World Center in Jerusalem to serve as "the permanent and official presence of B'nai B'rith in Jerusalem."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jcpa.org/text/knesset_debates/Basic_Law_Jerusalem_Capital.pdf |title=Basic Law: Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel |publisher=Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs |access-date=2012-08-07}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/laws/special/eng/basic10_eng.htm |title=Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel |publisher=Knesset.gov.il |access-date=2012-07-23}}</ref>

== Controversy ==
The Canadian chapter of B'nai B'rith ([[B'nai Brith Canada|B'nai B'rith Canada]]) organized two conferences against a non-binding [[Motion 103|Motion M.103]]  in Canadian Parliament, just weeks after the [[Quebec City mosque shooting|Quebec Mosque attack]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-03-02 |title=Should Jews support M-103, a motion condemning Islamophobia? A CJN debate |url=https://thecjn.ca/perspectives/opinions/should-jews-support-m-103-a-cjn-debate/ |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=The Canadian Jewish News |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Awards ==
The Presidential Gold Medal is awarded by B'nai B'rith every few years to honor the recipient's commitment to the Jewish people and the [[Israel|State of Israel]]. Recipients have included [[David Ben-Gurion]], [[John F. Kennedy]], [[George H. W. Bush]], [[Stephen Harper]] and [[Golda Meir]]. The Gold Medal has been given to former Austrian chancellor [[Franz Vranitzky]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oe1.orf.at/inforadio/58058.html?filter=1|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070306061922/http://oe1.orf.at/inforadio/58058.html?filter=1|url-status=dead|title=oe1.ORF.at / News<!-- Bot generated title -->|archivedate=March 6, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://oe1.orf.at/inforadio/58060.html?filter=3|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070306061822/http://oe1.orf.at/inforadio/58060.html?filter=3|url-status=dead|title=oe1.ORF.at / Bnai B'rith-Medaille für Altkanzler Vranitzky<!-- Bot generated title -->|archivedate=March 6, 2007}}</ref> [[Prime Minister of Australia|Australian Prime Minister]] [[John Howard]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bnaibrith.org.au/newsletterPopup.asp?NewsletterID=70|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060819031400/http://www.bnaibrith.org.au/newsletterPopup.asp?NewsletterID=70|url-status=dead|title=B'nai B'rith Australia / NZ<!-- Bot generated title -->|archivedate=August 19, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bnaibrith.org/pubs/pr/05172006_johnhoward.cfm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060614052050/http://bnaibrith.org/pubs/pr/05172006_johnhoward.cfm|url-status=dead|title=B'nai B'rith Award Ceremony Honors Australian Prime Minister John Howard<!-- Bot generated title -->|archivedate=June 14, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.friendsfromasia.com/node/823 |title=Prime Minister John Howard will be presented the prestigious B'nai B'rith international Preside... |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524231752/http://www.friendsfromasia.com/node/823 |archive-date=2013-05-24 |url-status=dead}}</ref> former [[Chancellor of Germany|German Chancellor]] [[Willy Brandt]] and former U.S. presidents [[Harry S. Truman]], [[Gerald R. Ford]] and [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]].

The B'nai B'rith book award was established in 1970. The first recipient was [[Ronald Sanders (writer)|Ronald Sanders]] for his work ''The Downtown Jews''.<ref>[http://archive.jta.org/article/1970/02/20/2952512/issac-babel-and-ronald-sanders-to-be-honored-for-literary-contributions "Issac Babel and Ronald Sanders to Be Honored for Literary Contributions"], February 20, 1970</ref>

==Notable members==
*[[Sigmund Freud]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/175th.html|title=Speech of the CEO Daniel S. Mariaschidel for the 175th anniversary|language=en|date=15 October 2018|quote=Sigmund Freud's...never forgot his Vienna Lodge brothers, who listened, considered and engaged in thoughtful discussion with him.}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web|url=https://www.bnaibrith.org/timeline-2018.html|title=B'nai B'rith's Chronology|language=en|quote=1897--Sigmund Freud delivers one of his first lectures on dream interpretation and psychoanalysis to his Vienna Lodge brothers.}}
</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Hugo Knoepfmacher|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/000306517902700209|title=Sigmund Freud and the B'Nai B'Rith|journal=[[Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association]]|pmid=383770|date=1 April 1979|language=en|volume=27|issue=2|pages=441–449|doi=10.1177/000306517902700209 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/mss39990.OV1312/?sp=1|title=Ansprache an die Mitgleider des Vereins B'Nai B'rith (1926)|website=[[Library of Congress]] |language=de|year=1926}} and [https://archive.today/20190501161537/https://tile.loc.gov/image-services/iiif/service:mss:mss39990:mss39990-OV13:12:0003/full/pct:50/0/default.jpg other side]</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=http://akadem.org/medias/documents/Freud-allocution_5.pdf|title=Speech to the B'nai B'rith fraternity translated into French|language=fr|year=1926|location=Vienna}}</ref>
* [[Albert Einstein]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bnaibrithmagazine.org/blog/the-albert-and-joseph-letters-it-wasnt-all-about-science|title=The Albert and Joseph Letters: It Wasn't All About Science|date=14 November 2017}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[B'nai Brith Canada]]
* [[World Jewish Congress]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikisource1911Enc|B'nai B'rith, Independent Order of|B'nai B'rith}}
* {{Official website|https://www.bnaibrith.org/}}

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