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Night of the Jewish Freemasons

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I've spent a few days digesting the concept of Jewish Freemasons, which seems like nightmare fuel for a whole slate of groups.

Being of Jewish heritage myself, I take something of a jaded view of these things, but I can't help but wonder:  why the Freemasons?

To put it another way, there were lots of mutual aid societies within the US in the 19th Century, and while the New Deal and demographic changes undercut their support, they remained a part of the cultural landscape for decades.  There is a reason why the nostalgia-driven Happy Days had Howard Cunningham serve as a member of Leopard Lodge No. 462, eventually rising to the rank of "Grand Poobah."

I suppose I could do a deep dive into Freemasonry, but that way lies madness.  A cursory survey indicates that Jews did in fact have to create their own "rite" of Freemasons, but why did they bother?  Why not just make the Ancient and Honorable Order of David or some such thing?  Was it branding?  Did all fraternal societies need to be Masons?

Perhaps it was a question of social status.  I'm descended of German Jews and it appears that my ancestors were extremely disdainful of Jews from Slavic lands.  The easiest way to make someone want something is to preemptively deny it to them.  If Jews are excluded from the ordinary Masonic rites, a predictable response is for them to create their own.

There's also the whole mystic Temple aspect.  It had to be grating for Jews to see Christians (or Deists) claim descent from the builders of the Temple of Solomon.

On the other hand, Freemasonry comes with so much baggage that I'm at a loss as to why Jews would want to wade into the thicket of the Knights Templar and Baphomet and all of that. 

The Leopard Lodge looks a lot more attractive.

 

  1. CN Avatar
    CN

    But does the “Leopard lodge” have the same membership roll?
    Jews, the ones in my family anyway, initially joined the Masons for its membership roll. They were not interested in doing business with only their fellow Jews, and their fellow Jews did not always own necessary businesses, or have the right connections.
    Joining any group might be based on the commonality of charitable interests, but just as often it’s the right membership. Locally when I moved to the area, any businessman with initiative joined the Lion’s Club. This was because nearly all the local politicians belonged to that club, and knowing these people made a lot of sense. It was not because they had a relentless desire to improve people’s vision, but that was an ok thing to do as you made contacts.
    In NYC, my husband’s home town, I assume the Masons had the right connections, so his family and other Jewish businessmen joined as soon as they were recommended. Starting your own club does not have the same benefits, so they eagerly became lifetime members. It had nothing to do with wanting something that was denied to them, because even in the early 1920s, it wasn’t. It was a networking opportunity like no other for an immigrant who was not in the same church as the people they wanted to know, did not go to college at all, and was unsure about political parties.
    My son-in-law in the military, is a Mason. He will soon be fully retired and from what I understand the group he is also working for is flush with other Masons. He is Jewish.

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  2. A.H. Lloyd Avatar
    A.H. Lloyd

    Well, that does mesh well with the notion that American Freemasonry rapidly devolved to little more than a business association – mating aspiring new money with the old. No mystic elements, no eternal war on the Catholic Church, nothing personal, just business.
    So I guess that moves American Freemasonry from “Satanic Cabal” to “Sinister Global Financial Conspiracy.”
    The concept of Freemasons in the military is also a source of additional nightmare fuel for certain people. It is well known that service academy graduates benefit from social connections, but an “inner circle” of service academy Freemasons seems a bit excessive.
    Worthy of at least a throwaway line in a future novel.

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  3. Brian Goerg Avatar
    Brian Goerg

    2340 first st wyandotte mi I need in person intel exchange. They have barred all other forms of communication! PLEASE RESPOND!

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