Daniel S. Mariaschin, executive vice president of B’nai B’rith International (BBI), will be the keynote speaker at an event organized to relaunch B’nai B’rith in St. Louis.

Diane Maier, local B’nai B’rith coordinator, said the relaunched chapter will focus on innovative programs and outreach to young members of the community. “We hope this event will increase interest and involvement with B’nai B’rith, which has a long and proud history in St. Louis,” Maier said.

Mariaschin has spent nearly all of his professional life working on behalf of Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League, where he served as director of its Middle East Affairs Department and later as the assistant to ADL’s then-national director, the late Nathan Perlmutter. He later became director of the Political Affairs Department of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

As national director of BBI, Mariaschin directs and supervises B’nai B’rith programs, activities and staff in the United States plus more than 50 other countries. He also serves as director of the B’nai B’rith Center for Human Rights and Public Policy. In that capacity, he represents B’nai B’rith’s perspective to a variety of audiences, including Congress and the media.

The Light caught up with Mariaschin for a telephone interview before his visit.

You were just in Geneva for the United Nations Human Rights Council meetings. What happened there that was of interest to B’nai B’rith and the American Jewish community?

A few years ago, the agency was re-cast from the old U.N. Human Rights Commission. The idea was to make it better, and have it really deal with human rights abuses. It hasn’t done that. It has been largely a dismal failure. The Libya case is a good example. Libya has been very involved in the Human Rights Council and two years ago actually was the chair of the Durban Review Conference, otherwise known as Durban II, and we (B’nai B’rith) were there. That was the meeting where Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke in the conference hall and many of the European delegations walked out. I think that is symptomatic of the problem. Ultimately, Libya was thrown out, but only after we saw with our own eyes the bodies of people, his own civilians killed by Muammar Qaddafi.

What’s the “re-cast” Human Rights Council’s approach to Israel?

Every year, the Human Rights Council has this obsession with Israel. There is a basket of anti-Israel resolutions and they act on these resolutions every year. And every year, Israel is the only country that is consistently singled out by name for condemnation. The effort to zero in on Israel is part of the broader demonization and de-legitimizition of Israel across the board. So we try to attend the meetings in Geneva, and we also stopped in Paris for meetings of UNESCO, where there have also been anti-Israel actions taken. We always have to be on the watch for such things, and that’s a large part of our public policy.

B’nai B’rith in prior years was a huge mass-membership organization with lots of young people eager to join local lodges. Over the past 20 or so years, membership has become older and there is only one St. Louis unit/lodge. Why do you think this has happened and have any other American communities managed to re-vitalize B’nai B’rith at the grassroots level?

We have lots of high-energy activity in cities like Detroit, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, where there are Israeli Consulates. In New York, we have global roundtable meetings attended by lots of young professionals who are diplomats or who are involved with public policy. Having meetings during the lunch hour is better suited to younger people who may not have the time to come to an evening meeting. Among many young people you have both spouses working full time and if they have children they have even less time to devote to organizations. We have also been successful in reaching out to younger people through the Internet and social media. Harvey Gerstein, a longtime St. Louis B’nai B’rith member, is working with Diane Maier and others to bring similar approaches to St. Louis.

So, has the old local and lodge unit system become obsolete?

No. In the United States, the lodge and unit system does indeed remain and many have important local volunteer programs in he community. We have moved in recent years to a “communities” approach, opening up membership and volunteer programs and activities to an even wider group of Jews interested in becoming involved in our institutional agenda, which includes public policy, seniors issues (including senior housing) and humanitarian assistance. In St. Louis, the Covenant/CHAI Apartments originated with a B’nai B’rith initiative that later included other organizational sponsors (including the Jewish Federation, the JCC and Jewish Center for Aged).

What has your work with members of Congress been like?

Every two years, after the elections, we have a breakfast for Jewish members of Congress. This morning, we had three members, Shari Berkeley from Nevada, Allison Schwartz of Philadelphia and Debbie Wasserman Shultz from Florida, come and talk about their B’nai B’rith Young Organization (BBYO) and B’nai B’rith Girls (BBG) backgrounds. This is an example of how B’nai B’rith affects many of us at all stages of life. Then, of course, there is Hillel, and all of us who attended university were affected by Hillel, which was originated as a B’nai B’rith program on campus. So people come into office often with a positive personal association with B’nai B’rith, which makes establishing positive relationships easier.

B’nai B’rith talk

HOW MUCH: The event is free, but requires an RSVP to Diane Maier at 314-442-3190; [email protected] .