30 Facts About B'nai B'rith

B'nai B'rith has members, donors and supporters around the world.

B'nai B'rith was founded in Aaron Sinsheimer's cafe in New York City's Lower East Side on October 13, 1843, by 12 recent German Jewish immigrants led by Henry Jones.

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 played a crucial role in transnational Jewish politics.

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.

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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.

Roosevelt readily agreed to transmit it and B'nai B'rith lodges began gathering signatures around the country.

B'nai B'rith has been involved in Jewish camping for more than a half century.

In 1953, B'nai B'rith acquired a 300-acre camp in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains.

In 1938 B'nai B'rith established the Vocational Service Bureau to guide young people into careers.

In recent years, B'nai B'rith has advocated for health care reform, Social Security and Medicare protection.

B'nai B'rith includes, on its domestic agenda, tolerance issues such as advocating for hate crimes legislation as well as sponsoring a youth writing challenge, Diverse Minds.

B'nai B'rith 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.

American-based international B'nai B'rith organization founded the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith as a response to attacks on Jews in the United States.

Since 1886, B'nai B'rith has published B'nai B'rith Magazine, the oldest continually published Jewish periodical in the United States.

B'nai B'rith publishes program guides for local Jewish education programs and each year sponsors "Unto Every Person There is a Name".

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.

B'nai B'rith later raised funds and distributed them to those affected by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the Galveston, Texas, flood of 1900 and the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.

B'nai B'rith opened a disaster relief fund following the fires that raged through Mount Carmel in northern Israel and another fund to help victims of the worst drought to hit East Africa in more than 50 years.

Much of the money B'nai B'rith raises for disaster relief is focused on long-term rebuilding, meeting needs beyond what the initial responders provide.

In Haiti, B'nai B'rith raised $250, 000 for shoes, medicine, health supplies and other needs immediately following the January 2010 earthquake that struck the island nation.

B'nai B'rith has held and planned several fundraisers for future rebuilding projects.

Wildfires struck communities in Southern California that summer and fall, and B'nai B'rith contributed to the much-needed disaster recovery by assisting with the costs of food, utility bills and medical supplies for the Idyllwild HELP Center.

In Hawaii, B'nai B'rith provided assistance to the Ahava 'Aina Synagogue after the eruption of the Kilauea Volcano and damage from a tropical storm.

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.

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B'nai B'rith has worked extensively with officials in the State Department, in Congress, and in foreign governments to support the efforts of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to combat antisemitism.

In 2002, in cooperation with the Brother's Brother Foundation, B'nai B'rith distributed more than $31 million worth of critically needed medicine, books and supplies to Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela following the economic disaster that struck much of Latin America.

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.

In 1959, B'nai B'rith became the first major American Jewish organization to hold a convention in Israel.

Only six weeks after the signing of the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt in 1978, B'nai B'rith was the first Jewish group to visit Egypt at the invitation of President Anwar Sadat.