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Show Joel Shapiro 6 / 9/82 t p pg 13 1 i; ~nen you were young , who was the Captain 1'1:uigg? JS \\ell, the head man , as we referred to before, was James L . ,AJ'hite. LTar.:es L . 'A'hite became the driving force of centralized giving , I think , early on . James 1 . 'w'hite beca me tne district presicient of B' Nai Bri th . He was an attorney , and s o forth . He was a philan thropist . rle was a fine leader . Well spoken , articulate. He was a Harvard man , I think . He was an exceptional person , and he c omrr. anded t he reGuest of both con gre gations , although he was a Refor~ ~an . He rose through the ranks of B' Nai Brith , because that was t~e place where you got --one c ould get general , overall status in the Jewish corr.~unity . 1 what did B' Nai Brith serve at that time? JS i·iell , B ' l~a i :Brith served , in 20 ' s and 30 ' s , t he same purposes the ~BA Ba s ketball Association , television , boating , riding , archery , hunt ing , f i shing , and homes in Palm Spr ings and Florida s erve today . It was t he other place . And it was the other--it was where men went wnen they laid down their shovels and trowel s . B' Nai Bri th had status . l3 ' Hai Brith was forrred , in this country , in 1843 . It was beautifully organized throughout the country . It ' s basic philosophy , wnich my father woulo often repeat it to me , was that 'here in this room neither religion nor politics would be discussed'. I mean , the founders wisely saw the division amongs t l"lan and t he Jews , and part of the cha r ter, I believe , or the founding consti tution , was the expression , "Here neither religion nor politics will be discussed". I mean , that was a tenet . One aid not discuss in B' LJa i Brith meeting , or roorr. , or in a course of a meeting , or even a social hour-- I presume fol l owing it for coffee --religion or politics . It was the one bridging organization . And that was the power of B' Nai Brith . Plus , it always had functi ons , s ocial functions. It had dances , it had -- I remember going with my father , and looking forwa r d to a great event : Fathers and Son Night, up at the old covenant house . It was packed . Now , you still had the separation and cautiousness between members of each congregation , one to the other, and , by and large, they sat there and they sat there . And , I suppose , it was that way at the dances . They sat ther e , and , maybe, they danced with their own, but nonetheless , they assembled, and leadership grew without regard |
