B'nai B'rith Israel

B'nai B'rith Israel's contemporary work centers on social, cultural, and volunteer activities carried out through local lodges.[3] Its programs include assistance to disadvantaged children and adults, support for recent immigrants, youth mentoring, rehabilitation support for disabled people, and work with women affected by domestic violence.[4] These activities continue an institutional history that includes libraries, Hebrew-language education, immigrant employment services, and assistance to people in need.[2][3]

The Israeli lodge organization operates alongside the B'nai B'rith World Center in Jerusalem, which has served since 1980 as the hub of B'nai B'rith International's activities in Israel.[5] The World Center's work includes Israel-Diaspora relations, educational programs, diplomatic contacts, combating antisemitism, and recognition of Jews who rescued other Jews during the Holocaust.[5][4] Local volunteering and international Jewish connections are therefore both represented in B'nai B'rith's Israel-based activities.[4][5]

Membership figures provide dated snapshots of the Israeli organization. A 2022 account gave approximately 2,500 members in 90 lodges.[3] A 2024 account reported approximately 3,000 members.[1] In 2025, the organization reported 3,100 members in 110 lodges and stated that it had doubled in size since 2017.[4]

B'nai B'rith was founded in New York on October 13, 1843, by 12 German Jewish immigrants led by Henry Jones, with a purpose of organizing Jews around shared identity and addressing the difficult circumstances of Jewish immigrants.[2] Its broader commitments came to include Jewish continuity, the security of the Jewish people and Israel, human rights, and community service.[2] Its first overseas lodge opened in Germany in 1882; beyond the United States, its European and Middle Eastern membership developed a more elite character than its broad American base.[6]

Financial assistance to cholera victims in nineteenth-century Palestine was an early expression of its connection to the land and its Jewish communities.[7][8] A 1965 convention account dated a $4,500 contribution, made in response to an appeal from Sir Moses Montefiore, to October 1865; another historical account dates a $4,522 cholera-relief collection to 1868 and identifies it as the organization's first overseas philanthropic project.[7][8] A later account also describes relief to Jewish communities across North Africa and the Middle East and advocacy for Jews facing persecution in Russia, Romania, and elsewhere in Europe.[9]

The first Jerusalem lodge was established in 1888.[2] Its initiator was Dr. Ze'ev Wilhelm Herzberg, a teacher, writer, and activist against assimilation who had directed the Mikveh Israel agricultural school and established Jerusalem's first Hebrew orphanage.[3] Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, Rabbi Chaim Hirschensohn, and educator and Zionist activist David Yellin were among its founders.[3] Ben-Yehuda became its first secretary, and Hebrew became the lodge's official language.[10]

The lodge also engaged with restrictions affecting Jewish access to the country.[11] A U.S. diplomatic dispatch dated April 20, 1889, referred to a memorial from the Jerushalaim Lodge concerning restrictions on foreign Jews traveling to Palestine and reported that action by the American legation and the British and French embassies had helped remove them.[11]

The Sha'ar Zion lodge opened in Jaffa in 1890, taking a name associated with the city's role as a gateway to Zion.[3] Its members included Shimon Rokach and Meir Dizengoff, who later served as lodge president while also serving as mayor.[3] Other early lodges operated in Haifa, Safed, and Zichron Ya'akov; the Zichron Ya'akov lodge was led by Aaron Aaronsohn, a leading figure in the NILI spy network.[12][3] An archival collection covering 1888–1975 preserves material on lodges in Jerusalem, Zichron Ya'akov, and Tel Aviv.[13]

The Jerusalem lodge was the first public organization to conduct all its meetings in Hebrew.[2] In 1889, some of its younger members formed Safa Berurah to promote Hebrew speech; the following year, the group established the Hebrew Language Committee, which published language materials, coined words, and worked to standardize pronunciation.[10] Hebrew also became the official language of B'nai B'rith proceedings in Palestine.[14]

In 1903, the Jerusalem lodge established the city's first Hebrew-speaking kindergarten, following earlier Hebrew kindergartens in Rishon LeZion and Jaffa.[10] Demand quickly filled the kindergarten, prompting the lodge to open two more elsewhere in Jerusalem.[10] Together, the three educated hundreds of children, and B'nai B'rith later established a kindergarten-teacher seminary in the city.[10]

The Jaffa lodge established a Hebrew school, three Hebrew kindergartens, and an employment bureau for new immigrants.[3] The boys' school Bet ha-Sefer be-Jaffa, founded in 1892 with support from the Odessa Committee and a subsidy from B'nai B'rith of America, later became an Alliance school.[12] Hebrew was used in both the boys' and girls' schools described in the early account.[12]

The Jerusalem lodge opened its library in 1892, naming it for the Jewish statesman and scholar Don Isaac Abravanel.[15] Its founding collection contained 947 books donated by lodge members and other Jerusalem residents.[15] It became Jerusalem's first free public library and a nucleus of the Jewish National and University Library.[2]

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda's library was added in 1894, bringing approximately 2,000 additional books.[15] In 1895, the Zionist physician Joseph Chasanowich sent 10,000 volumes from Bialystok to Jerusalem, substantially enlarging the collection.[15] The library's purpose-built premises opened in 1902 on what is now B'nai B'rith Street.[15]

After World War I, the collection was transferred to the World Zionist Organization; in 1925 it passed to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and became the National and University Library.[15] B'nai B'rith members in Tel Aviv also established the Sha'ar Zion Library, which later became the city's central library.[3]

The Jerusalem lodge took up land at Moza, near Jerusalem on the Jaffa road, which supporters of Kalischer had purchased for several Jerusalem families in 1873.[12] The small colony was initially undeveloped but was valued by Jerusalem children as an excursion destination.[12] Other accounts list the purchase of land for a home for new immigrants at Moza among the lodge's early contributions.[2]

By the 1925 convention, the Palestine lodges had been organized as District No. 14, having previously belonged to District No. 11.[14] Dr. David Yellin of Jerusalem served as district president and described work toward a Garden City near Jerusalem.[14] The convention approved a Palestine House-building Fund, established by the Executive Committee, and urged lodges to contribute to the proposed community as a contribution to economic and cultural development and housing for Jews wishing to live in Palestine.[14] In 1935, B'nai B'rith donated $100,000 to the Jewish National Fund for the purchase of 1,000 acres.[2]

A 1947 account described a home for children suffering psychological and physical effects of Nazi persecution, alongside plans for a club for homeless elderly people.[16] Proposed youth facilities included a Jerusalem Youth Center for recreation, study, and work, a Youth Forest near Jerusalem, and a Youth House associated with the Hebrew University on Mount Scopus.[16] The National Hillel Commission had approved participation in the Youth House, which was intended to serve Hillel and other community youth needs.[16] The same proceedings identified the settlements Nachlat Alfred M. Cohen and Nachlat Henry Monsky among B'nai B'rith's Palestine activities.[16]

After the 1953 convention, a more formal Israel program developed from earlier lodge-led relief, rehabilitation, and assistance to immigrants.[17] A seven-member committee appointed in 1954 formulated a seven-point program, with an early undertaking accepting a $1.5 million goal connected to Israel Bonds.[17] In 1956, B'nai B'rith became the first major American Jewish organization to hold a convention in Israel.[2]

The 1956 report recorded growth from 48 to 62 Israeli units, including 12 women's chapters, with hundreds of young people in youth groups.[17] It listed immigrant assistance, clubs for military personnel, services for older people, scholarships, and youth aid, and reported that the Hillel Foundation's new Hebrew University building was already too small.[17] Women's participation had expanded from an organization that initially excluded them to women's lodges and joint management; the Henrietta Szold lodge in Tel Aviv included Mania Bialik among its members.[3]

In October 1955, the B'nai B'rith Children's Home in Israel was dedicated for children with emotional difficulties.[17] The women's organization assumed responsibility for the approximately quarter-million-dollar project and committed to its continuing maintenance.[17] By 1967, an account of an Israeli convention referred to 135 lodges; it also mentioned ten ADL staff members attending a six-week B'nai B'rith seminar.[18]

B'nai B'rith's Tel Aviv building at 10 Kaplan Street hosted weddings and parties for many years.[3] Debts incurred during the 1970s led the organization to return the building to the municipality, which offered an alternative building in the Sarona complex at a subsidized price in 2016.[3]

At the 95th convention in 2023, 300 delegates gathered at Tel Aviv's ANU Museum of the Jewish People and elected Emanuel, also known as Mano, Cohen as president and chose a new executive board.[19] Outgoing president Daniel Gratz cited membership growth and new lodges.[19] Cohen had joined in 2008, led Orr Lodge, and headed the Gush Dan Regional Council, a consortium of 36 lodges.[4]

The 96th annual conference returned to the ANU Museum in May 2024, where Cohen reviewed activities since the outbreak of war and outlined future plans.[9] The gathering commemorated members who had died during the previous year and victims of the October 7 Hamas assault.[9] Nearly 300 members attended the 98th annual conference in Kfar Saba in 2026, which honored outgoing B'nai B'rith International CEO Dan Mariaschin and included Mayor Rafi Sa'ar and former hostage Alon Ohel, whose grandparents were longtime members.[20]

At that conference, Cohen reported 15 new lodges during the preceding year and extensive assistance to displaced families and IDF units during Iranian missile attacks.[20] He also outlined measures intended to improve long-term financial sustainability, including renovation of Rokach House and a merger with B'nai B'rith senior-living facilities in Haifa.[20]

Educational volunteering includes online English conversation classes for primary-school pupils and mentoring for young people.[4] In 2022, 25 volunteers were providing weekly individual tutoring at Tel Aviv's Ironi Yud-Alef school for students who had left school.[3] Other activities included school and reservist scholarships and support for a museum project at Latrun concerning Jewish soldiers in the Second World War.[3]

A partnership with the nonprofit With You All The Way supports women leaving shelters or hospitals after physical or psychological violence.[21] The project aims to train mentors to accompany women toward independent living, and proceeds from a 2025 fundraising event were dedicated to that transition.[21] Other welfare activities include rehabilitation support for disabled people, while B'nai B'rith's broader Israel programs have included aid to hospitals and schools, clubs for blind people, housing for former soldiers, special-education institutes, and Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebrations for children from families in need.[4][22]

After October 7, 2023, new volunteer activities included harvesting crops, collecting winter clothing for the military, and teaching displaced children.[4] The organization also assisted evacuees from the Gaza-border area and northern Israel, purchased equipment for soldiers, and created the Chaim Fund to administer incoming donations and their use.[1]

A 2024 scholarship initiative allocated approximately NIS 80,000 among eight outstanding armored-corps reservists whose education had been interrupted by service or financial hardship.[23] Selection involved commanders, B'nai B'rith members, and Yad La-Shiryon, using criteria including unusually extensive reserve service, excellent unit performance, and demonstrated financial need to complete studies.[23] In October 2026, B'nai B'rith Israel and Fort Worth's Isadore Garsek Lodge raised $54,000 for advanced helmets for Maglan reconnaissance-unit soldiers completing their 18-month training course.[24] The Texas lodge supplied a large share through B'nai B'rith International, with the Israeli organization matching part of the donation.[24]

The World Center in Jerusalem, established in 1980, serves as a hub for B'nai B'rith International's activity in Israel and a link to members and supporters abroad.[5] Its work includes relations with Israeli officials and foreign diplomats, cooperation with academic, civic, and Zionist organizations, combating antisemitism, and educational programs, seminars, and missions.[5] It also promotes Israel's image and Jerusalem's sovereignty.[5]

Earlier efforts to strengthen international ties included the Commission on Israel's work on the economy, land development, children's education, and Jewish exchanges.[7] Proposals recorded in 1965 included student exchanges, leadership training in Israel, community centers, Hebrew study, and information about Israeli employment opportunities for skilled workers.[7] A reciprocal twinning program launched in 1966 initially connected approximately 80 Israeli lodges with North American units.[25] Participation later declined, although continuing partnerships generated visits and hospitality.[25]

The World Center's journalism award, established in 1992, recognizes Israeli print and electronic reporting on contemporary Diaspora Jewish communities and Israel-Diaspora relations.[5] Its purpose is to encourage coverage that strengthens connections between Israel and world Jewry.[5] In May 2023, the World Center was among the Israeli signatories to a letter addressed to UN officials concerning an action plan on antisemitism.[26]

B'nai B'rith women adopted the Martyrs' Forest project in 1955 and pledged to purchase one tree per member.[17] A stone entrance archway in the Judean Hills near Jerusalem and a memorial service at the forest sanctuary featured in the 1965 convention account.[7] During the three years preceding the 1971 convention, the organization completed a second section of 500,000 trees.[25] Total forest income then stood at $2,319,755, with 1970 tree sales of $313,673, 54 percent above the previous year's record.[25]

In 2011, B'nai B'rith and the Committee to Recognize the Heroism of Jewish Rescuers During the Holocaust established the Jewish Rescuers Citation.[4] More than 170 rescuers had been honored by 2017 for efforts across ten countries, and the total reached 658 by the organization's 2025 report.[27][4] Among the posthumous recipients was Hadassah Bimko-Rosensaft, a doctor and Holocaust survivor who helped keep 149 children alive at Bergen-Belsen.[27] Her son recalled that survivors repeatedly approached her over the following half-century saying, “You don't remember me but you saved my life.”[27]

The World Center co-sponsored the free public program “Seeking Justice: The Future of Holocaust History” in Jerusalem on February 22, 2017.[28] It addressed the opening of the International Tracing Service archive to researchers and the historical, moral, and legal significance of access.[28] Bar-Ilan University's Faculty of Jewish Studies describes the Jews Saving Jews Forum, founded in June 2019 through the World Center and the rescuers-recognition committee, as addressing a lack of sustained, systematic research on Jewish self-rescue.[29] Its account identifies a 2020 booklet, a 2021 collected research volume, and continuing information-sharing and collaboration.[29]

In April 2025, the World Center opened the Heritage Center for Jewish Rescuers during the Holocaust at the Wilfred Israel Museum of Oriental Art and Studies at Kibbutz HaZore'a.[4] Its multimedia exhibition, “Life Lines,” includes Wilfred Israel's work obtaining British visas for thousands of Jews and supporting the movement of young Jews from Central Europe to pre-state Israel and the United Kingdom.[4]

The library founded by the Jerusalem lodge became a basis for a national Jewish library, while the lodge's Hebrew proceedings, language initiatives, and kindergartens placed it within the development of Hebrew public culture.[15][10] Its educational contributions also extended beyond Jerusalem through the Sha'ar Zion Library and Jaffa's schools and kindergartens.[3]

Cultural support continued in later decades: in 1965, B'nai B'rith dedicated a library at the Midrasha in Sde Boker, intended among other purposes to house David Ben-Gurion's private books and papers.[7] Alongside these institutional contributions, its contemporary volunteer programs and international lodge partnerships connect local social needs with Jewish communal resources abroad.[4][24] Holocaust remembrance has likewise expanded from memorial forest planting to recognizing individual rescuers, supporting research, and establishing a dedicated heritage center.[25][4]

B'nai B'rith's Israel-related work includes explicit advocacy on contested political questions. Established in 1980 in response to United Nations Security Council Resolution 478, the World Center includes programs intended to promote Jerusalem's sovereignty.[5] In 1947, a B'nai B'rith convention called for abrogation of the 1939 White Paper, unrestricted Jewish immigration, and removal of restrictions on Jewish land purchases; its resolution described the White Paper as a violation of earlier pledges.[16]

The organization also opposes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, characterizing BDS as antisemitic and anti-peace. These descriptions represent B'nai B'rith's advocacy position rather than a neutral account of the underlying dispute.[22]