June 25, 2004
B'nai Brith 668 no more
The end came Sunday for 94-year-old organization.PAT JOHNSON SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN
As the sun set out the window behind her on the last day of spring Sunday night, Rivka Arieli, the president of B'nai Brith Lion's Gate Lodge, presided over a small meeting that ended an era for British Columbia's Jewish community. B'nai Brith Lion's Gate Lodge voted itself out of existence.
B'nai Brith has had a presence in this province since 1910, when Samuels Lodge #668 was formed. A second lodge, Lion's Gate #1716, was formed in 1948 and the two lodges amalgamated in 1985 into Lion's Gate Lodge #668. But a year of desperate rebuilding and struggling to find relevance amid the changing world of the local Jewish community resulted in the conclusion by Arieli and her few remaining members that there was no interest in continuing the organization. Less than a dozen members were present when the lodge unanimously voted to dissolve.
Despite the unexpected drama – the decision to dissolve came just in the few days before the annual general meeting – neither the B'nai Brith name nor the charitable work that the group has pioneered in the province will disappear. Though the lodge ceases to exist and the membership-based structure ends, the core objectives of the group will be rolled over into the B'nai Brith Foundation of British Columbia. The foundation will undertake a narrower mandate, leaving behind the meetings and social events that once defined the lodge.
Originally founded as a social organization for Jews, the mandate of the group has changed. Nobody is interested in a bowling league or holiday dances anymore, said Arieli. The work of the lodge has evolved toward more social action, with a special emphasis on fighting hate. B'nai Brith Lion's Gate has provided financial and volunteer support to numerous court cases and public awareness efforts against neo-Nazi and other extremist anti-Semitic brush fires over the years. The foundation will continue to advance the objectives of the international B'nai Brith movement by providing awards for community service, organizing an annual anti-hate month, and continuing to support the Interfaith Brotherhood, a cross-cultural organization that has embodied B'nai Brith's commitment to multifaith dialogue.
Arieli noted that the choice of guest speaker for the final meeting of the lodge – Mark Weintraub, the new chair of Canadian Jewish Congress, Pacific Region – represents the foundation's commitment to working closely with Congress and other Jewish community organizations. (Weintraub's provocative presentation of the successes and failures of fighting anti-Semitism in Canada and the world will be featured in a profile of the new Congress leader in a future issue of the Bulletin.)
In her remarks to the membership, Arieli noted the realities that led to the fatal decision.
"B'nai Brith Lion's Gate Lodge has come to a time of completion and to a time of change," she said. "During the last year, our executive assistant, Tamara Segall, and I have discovered that despite our best efforts, few are interested in joining B'nai Brith Lion's Gate. We have only 30 paid members. Old members are not attracting their children or friends. We are unable to find anyone interested in working on the administration and building of B'nai Brith Lion's Gate Lodge."
Yet, even in the twilight of the organization, Arieli was able to point out the panoply of contributions the lodge has made to the B.C. community. The lodge has served as a sort of incubator for some of the most successful stand-alone organizations in the Jewish community here. Partly because the lodge has never had a legal charitable status, the organizations it has formed to fulfil its mandate have become independent offsprings of the parent body.
"B'nai Brith Lion's Gate Lodge has done a remarkable job over the many years since its founding," said Arieli. "The works of B'nai Brith Lion's Gate Lodge are far too numerous to acknowledge completely at this time, but the major projects which are now mature and independent include the B'nai Brith Building Society, with two seniors homes, and other housing in several apartments; the non-sectarian food bank; B'nai Brith Youth Organization with an international board; [the campus Jewish organization] Hillel; [and] the B'nai Brith Foundation of British Columbia."
Also formed originally under the auspices of B'nai Brith but operating independently are groups such as Shalom BC, which welcomes Jewish newcomers to the province, the free loan fund and Jewish Women International.
"Much of the work of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver was inspired and begun by the B'nai Brith Lion's Gate Lodge," Arieli added.
For several years, the financial operations of the lodge have been conducted under the auspices of the B'nai Brith Foundation of British Columbia, which is a registered charity. The foundation will now become the primary vehicle for B'nai Brith's work in the province.
"To go forward with the B'nai Brith name in British Columbia, we must do so in a different way," Arieli told the meeting. "To better address the changing needs of our community, we must no longer be a membership-focused organization, but an action-focused, nonprofit, charitable society, which continues the work of B'nai Brith."
The dissolution of the lodge coincides with a number of other structural changes. For example, B'nai Brith's B.C. chapter has always been an anomaly, being part of the Evergreen chapter of B'nai Brith – an American branch of B'nai Brith International – and strangely divorced from the rest of B'nai Brith Canada, which covers the other nine provinces. That anomaly will change somewhat, as current (and any future) members will be encouraged to either join the Canadian or the international B'nai Brith organizations, or both. The foundation will strengthen its association with the Canadian arm of the international B'nai Brith body.
An event later in the summer is expected to bring together members of the now-defunct lodge to mark its passing, and to educate about and celebrate the new mandate of the foundation.
Pat Johnson is a Vancouver journalist and commentator.
