B'nai B'rith International has added another lodge to its already burgeoning membership in Latin America. On April 2, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, the Jewish community, along with B'nai B'rith leaders, gathered at the Synagogue Shevet Ajim to induct 24 of B'nai B'rith's newest members. The Tegucigalpa Lodge opening is the final step in a process started years ago by local leaders of B'nai B'rith District 23. They sought to increase membership throughout the Central American and the Caribbean Sea countries to unify the several small Jewish communities in the area.
The newly-elected Tegucigalpa Lodge President Hillel Valladares (above right receiving his pin from Daniel Belozerkovsy, president of District 23) told the crowd that the new B'nai B'rith lodge will devote itself to human rights and education, with special focus on issues that can help the predominantly non-Jewish community better understand Jewish customs and traditions. Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras as well as its largest city, has a population of only 150 Jews. Most of the Honduran Jews are descendents of immigrants who escaped Europe before World War II.
BBI President Moishe Smith; Daniel Belozercovsky, president of District 23; and Alberto Jabiles, executive vice president of District 23, attended the opening ceremony. During their visit to Tegucigalpa, the B'nai B'rith leaders participated in meetings with the Honduran Jewish community leadership; the National Ombudsman Ramon Custodio; and with Tegucigalpa's Mayor Ricardo Antonio Álvarez Arias — an emerging politician in the country.
