Motto | The Global Voice of the Jewish Community |
---|---|
Formation | October 13, 1843 |
Type | NGO |
Location |
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Coordinates | 38°54′9.80″N 77°2′19.90″W / 38.9027222°N 77.0388611°WCoordinates: 38°54′9.80″N 77°2′19.90″W / 38.9027222°N 77.0388611°W |
President
|
Gary P. Saltzman |
CEO
|
Daniel S. Mariaschin |
Chairman of the Executive
|
Peter Perlman |
Website | www |
B'nai B'rith International (English pronunciation: /bəˌneɪ ˈbrɪθ/, from Hebrew: בני ברית b'né brit, "Children of the Covenant") is the oldest Jewish service organization in the world. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish people and the State of Israel and combating antisemitism and bigotry. Its mission is to unite persons of the Jewish faith and to enhance Jewish identity through strengthening Jewish family life, to provide broad-based services for the benefit of senior citizens, and to facilitate advocacy and action on behalf of Jews throughout the world.
Although the organization's historic roots stem from a system of fraternal lodges and units in the late 20th century, as fraternal organizations declined throughout the United States, the organization evolved into a dual system of both lodges and units. The membership pattern became more common to other contemporary organizations of members affiliated by contribution in addition to formal dues paying members. In recent years, the organization reported hundreds of thousands of members and supporters in countries around the world and a budget of $14,000,000. Nearly 95% of the membership is in the United States.
B'nai B'rith International is affiliated with the World Jewish Congress.
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. 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". 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.