B’nai Brith
B’nai Brith is Canada’s oldest Jewish service organization. First established in 1875, it disbanded around the turn of the 19th century and was re-established some ten years later. The Jacob Goldblatt lodge in Niagara Falls was inaugurated in the late 1940s and operated for some three decades until it became dormant in the 1970s. Although housed in Niagara Falls, Jacob Goldblatt functioned as a joint lodge together with Welland, and there were also members from Port Colborne. The lodge carried out its mission of service to the community, Jewish and non-Jewish, thanks to different fundraising activities, the most popular and enduring of which was the “Reverse straw stag.” This event was a dinner and draw, attended mostly by non-Jews. Also known as the “Jewish stag,” it awarded cash prizes to the last three men who had their names drawn from a hat containing the names of all ticket holders. Three of the lodge’s local presidents ended up becoming presidents of the Eastern Canadian Council of B’nai Brith: Harold Rosberg, Harry Carrel and Dr. Hy Singer.
When the Niagara Falls B’nai Brith lodge was discontinued in the 1970s, the “Jewish stag” lived on and was taken over by the synagogue. It was later opened up to women as well as men, and became known as the “Dinner and Draw.” This event was still going strong in the first decade of the second millennium, regularly raising between $10,000 and $12,000. The funds raised have traditionally been distributed between the synagogue and causes in the general Niagara Falls community, including the hospital and a downtown women’s shelter.
