Nathan Mnookin, first advisor
In 1923, a group of boys in Omaha, Nebraska formed a Jewish fraternity and asked Nathan M. Mnookin, a young 21-year-old chemist from Kansas City, to become their advisor.
The original group of Omaha boys ranged from age 15 to 17 and were sons of east European immigrants from Orthodox backgrounds. Most of them were students at Central High School where there were several gentile fraternities and sororities. Few groups, if any, allowed Jews.
Similar sentiments were felt in Kansas City. Manual High School’s Greek-letter fraternities had never admitted a Jew until Abe Margolin and Phil Klutznick were elected to one of them, Klutznick writes in his book, “Angels of Vision.”
“A third Jewish youth, Max Wolfe, wanted to join us. He had all the qualifications but was blackballed apparently because three Jews in the fraternity would be too many,” Klutznick said. “In any case, the fraternity was presently left with no Jews because Abe and I resigned. .. It had never before occurred to me that I or my Jewish friends might be denied coveted leadership posts in our boyhood world on grounds other than merit. ”
The name Aleph Zadik Aleph evolved since they wanted a new club with a Hebrew name that sounded like a Greek letter fraternity.
The Beginning
Mnookin left Omaha in May 1923 to return to his hometown of Kansas City and wasted no time in organizing a second chapter of AZA.
“Upon his return to Kansas City, Mnookin contacted William Horowitz, whom he knew, and described the nature of a Jewish youth group which had been formed in Omaha and for which he had served as an advisor,” Klutznick said. “He asked Bill to assemble some of his friends in Kansas City so that he could talk with them. Bill soon tapped Lew Sutin, Abe Margolin, and me. What Mnookin had to say to us when we met concerned the creation in Omaha of Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA). Would we be interested in forming the second chapter of this organization? We were and we did.”
On Sept. 1, 1923, Meyer Freeman and Abe Babior of the Mother Chapter initiated Two’s first class: Henry Zinn, Joe Levy, Abe Margolin, Sidney Magazine, Lewis Sutin, Philip Klutznick, Heim Wolberg, Ben Lerner and William Horowitz. The Kansas City Jewish Chronicle reported about the event under the headline, “Aleph Tsadi Aleph Fraternity.”
The officers who who were elected to their first semester were: Aleph Godol, William Horowitz; Aleph S’gan, Abraham Margolin; Gisbor, Heim Wolberg; Mazkir, Philip Klutznick; Kosave, Joseph Levy; and Shotair, Henry Zinn.
Chapter No. 2 was formally chartered on May 10, 1924, one week after the Mother Chapter was organized in Omaha, Nebraska. Today, May 10 is celebrated as Two’s official birthday.
According to Max Baer in his book, “Dealing With Futures,” there are fading and conflicting recollections as to who originated the name of Aleph Zadik Aleph. Some say it was Mnookin who came up with the name “Aleph Zadik Aleph.”
The first printed booklet of rituals gave members the following interpretation:
“The three Hebrew letters which we have chosen for the name of our Fraternity are symbolic of some of our highest hopes and aspirations. The first Aleph in our name reminds us that we should strive to be first and foremost in everything that we undertake; in mental development, in athletics and in our moral obligations. The Zadik stands for Zion towards which we turn in our prayers and which is the birthplace of everything that is high, fine and noble in Judaism. The second Aleph reminds us of the Hebrew word ‘Anachnu’ which may be freely translated to mean cooperation and friendship, which represent some of the most important and fundamental aims of our Order.”
Baer said that sometime after Aleph Zadik Aleph for Young Men became Aleph Zadik Aleph of B’nai B’rith, the name was reinterpreted to match the motto of B’nai B’rith, ”Benevolence, Brotherly Love and Harmony” … which became Ahavoh (brotherly love), T’sdakah (benevolence), Achdoos (harmony).
Nathan Mnookin: The Founder of AZA
While Sam Beber is often credited as being the founder of AZA, Mnookin’s impact on building AZA and laying the foundation cannot be understated enough. Let’s be perfectly clear – Nate Mnookin was the founder of A.Z.A. Beber came into the picture late, replacing Oscar Weinstein to become the third advisor of the Mother Chapter. Mnookin was there from the beginning and although he remained in Omaha for only about a year, as Max Baer wrote, he “remained in Omaha long enough to give the Omaha boys the quality of guidance that assured the group of new recruits and a sense of direction.”
In a letter to Baer in 1980, Margolin added: “I have long believed that B’nai B’rith was remiss in its failure to accredit Nathan Mnookin fairly for his efforts in launching AZA… Nate was an exceedingly warm, compassionate, enthusiastic, inspiring and ebullient individual. He loved youth and loathed indolence, and these attributes of his personality led him to advise youngsters he was counseling here to apply for B’nai B’rith sponsorship when he recognized their competence and concluded that the lack of a constructive program was frustrating their potential.”
According to Drew Kaplan’s book titled, “A Youthful Historic Movement,” Mnookin was “the one who sort of started things by meeting with Abe Babior’s father and said, ‘Why isn’t there a group of young Jewish boys meeting like this in some of the larger cities.'”
William Horowitz and Philip Klutznick
Rise of Klutznick
Phil Klutznick served as AZA No. 2’s second Aleph Godol and in 1925, he defeated his friend Bill Horowitz to become the order’s second Grand Aleph Godol.
After high school, Klutznick became the first executive director of AZA, traveling across the country to help set up new chapters and helping with the expansion of the order.
“AZA, as the ‘junior B’nai B’rith,’ eventually grew into the largest organization of Jewish youth in the United States,” Klutznick said. “More important, it was a ‘nursery’’ for successive generations of leaders in American Jewish affairs and of Jewish leaders in American society at large. A kind of law of natural selection drew a particular kind of Jewish youth into the organization. Once a member, he received unique training in the skills of communication and ample opportunities to use them. The seedtime years of the organization, therefore, merit more than a passing word.”
Following his service at the head of AZA, Klutznick was employed for several years as Secretary to its Supreme Advisory Council. In 1940, he became the first member of AZA to hold a major leadership post within B’nai B’rith, when he was elected President of District 6, which covered a large portion of the Midwest, including Omaha and Chicago.
Later, Klutznick, an urban developer, would serve the federal government under seven presidents, beginning as a commissioner of the Federal Public Housing Authority under Franklin D. Roosevelt. He served Dwight D. Eisenhower as a delegate to the United Nations, and John F. Kennedy as ambassador to the U.N. Economic and Social Council. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter selected Klutnick to serve as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce, in part for his role in the Arab-Israeli peace talks.
Klutznick’s continued involvement with B’nai B’rith included two three-year terms as president. During his service, he oversaw the organization’s worldwide growth and worked to strengthen lodges in post-war Europe and Israel, advocating that German reparations should fund Jewish organizations.
He also served as president of the World Jewish Congress, chairman of the Public Affairs Committee of the United Jewish Fund, and president of the Chicago Bulls basketball team.
The BBYO website says “his deep roots in AZA and involvement in the American federal government made a profound difference for BBYO and the Jewish community at large.”
Klutznick said Kansas City AZA. 2 helped establish some of the original rituals and traditions that AZA still uses today.
“Those of us who met with Mnookin in Kansas City to form an AZA club modeled after the one in Omaha, added something distinctive on the initiative of Bill Horowitz,” Klutznick said. “He knew that in Jewish mysticism the first letter Aleph derives its importance from the fact that it embraces all the letters of the alphabet; the rest draw their energy from it. To satisfy the tastes of our members who had a strong liking for rituals and passwords, Bill proposed and the rest of us agreed that every member would be known as Aleph. Being the oldest of the four founding members-he was seventeen at the time-Bill was elected Aleph Godol (president); Abe Margolin, Lew Sutin, and I were elected to the other principal offices. Mnookin served as our advisor, and it was understood that the B’nai B’rith lodge in Kansas City would be approached in the hope that it would agree to be our sponsor. We were chartered on May 10, as AZA Chapter No. 2, and we were followed in quick succession by chapters chartered in Lincoln, Nebraska, and in Des Moines, Iowa.”
The first convention
In July 1924, the first International Convention was held in Omaha, Nebraska. It was assumed that Charles Shane of Des Moines would
be elected the first national president but Klutznick urged the election of his friend and brother Horowitz. There was a deadlock and finally, the decision was left to the Supreme Advisory Council, which gave the nod to Shane because of his seniority in years. Horowitz was then elected Grand Aleph S’gan. Heim Wolberg of Kansas City No. 2 was elected the Grand Aleph Mazkir at the same convention.
Klutznick said its grassroots origins were what made A.Z.A. was successful.
“It is significant that AZA began in relatively small Omaha and not in New York, Philadelphia, or Chicago. It is equally significant that 15 of the first 20 chapters would be located in small Jewish communities in the Midwest, with the other five in midsized Jewish communities also in the Midwest. Why? Jews concentrated in places such as New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago were sufficiently numerous to live in and by themselves, after the fashion of the east European shtetl. Their numbers alone enabled them to maintain and preserve causes, institutions, dogmas, and ideological disputes they brought with them from abroad. But Jewish communities such as those in Omaha or Kansas City lacked many of the opportunities for Jewish expression and the luxuries of self-centered advocacy found in large Jewish centers. Circumstances forced them to make a rapid and effective adjustment to the American environment-to fashion institutions that would serve specific needs at the grass roots of overwhelmingly not Jewish.”
On March 21-22, 1925, A.Z.A. held its first national basketball and debating tournament, in Omaha, Neb. Kansas City AZA No. 2 ran off with the honors in both events. Its basketball team, consisting of Sidney Magazine, Julius Peltzman, Philip Copland, Harry Kaufman, Isadore Pesman and Lewis Sutin, defeated the Gary, Ind., Five in the final round. Sutin became president of the B’nai B’rith District Grand Lodge No. 2 years later. In debating, the Kansas City team, composed of Horowitz and Klutznick won over the Council Bluffs chapter in the finals unanimously. The second convention of A.Z.A. took place in Kansas City in July 1925.
A.Z.A. is guided on “The Seven Cardinal Principles of A.Z.A.”: Patriotism, Judaism, Filial Love, Charity, Conduct, Purity and Fraternity. Today, BBYO reaches 70,000 Jewish teens in 700+ chapters across 50 countries around the world.
The Pretty Good 12
For many years, Two’s was among the best overall AZA chapters in the region and nationally. In the mid 1980s, however, Two’s folded due to membership challenges. After a brief hiatus, Two’s AZA was re-opened in the Winter/Spring semester of the 1993-1994 school year by 12 Alephs who didn’t like the direction in which AZA was headed. When the “Pretty Good 12” re-opened Two’s, they never expected it to achieve the success it has reached. The chapter is still going strong today with over 30 members.
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