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B'nai B'rith International (, from (ヘブライ語: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〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=About B'nai B'rith International )〕 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 more than 200,000 members and supporters in more than 50 countries 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. ==Origins== 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".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=B'nai B'rith International - The Global Voice of the Jewish Community )〕 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.〔Alfred M. Lilienthal, ''(The Changing Role of B'nai B'rith's Anti-Defamation League )'', WRMEA, June 1993, p.18〕 With their Yiddish heritage, the founders originally named the organization Söhne des Bundes (Sons of the Covenant) to reflect their goal of a fraternal order〔Fraternal organization〕 that could provide comfort to the entire spectrum of Jewish Americans. Although early meetings were conducted in Yiddish, 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 Secretary of State Daniel Webster to demand the end of 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.〔Hasia R. Diner, (''The Jews of the United States, 1654 to 2000'' ), p.191〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「B'nai B'rith」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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