‘Israel: The absolute importance of Freemasonry and its teachings’

    

Grand Lodge received follow-up correspondence Wednesday from the Grand Lodge of Israel. Excerpted:

Firstly, we thank those who have kindly donated to this cause. Your solidarity and deep concern for the humanitarian situation is welcome.

We need not tell you of the absolute barbarism to the lowest levels that man can reach. The situation in Israel and the Middle East is tense. Today, more than ever, we see the absolute importance of Freemasonry and its teachings. Here, the Grand Lodge of the State of Israel, in its small way, sheds a beam of light that touches the hearts and minds of those who truly believe in harmony, peace, and tolerance. Our prayers are that this beam of light will penetrate within our people and to our neighbors!

Since our last letter, the humanitarian situation has been very difficult, with so many citizens evacuating their homes in the south and the north. The uncertainty, different schools, businesses, and offices closed. The outpouring of help and volunteerism in Israel has been beyond all expectations!

The Grand Lodge of the State of Israel has set up a separate charity fund for the Humanitarian War Effort 2023. Brethren in Israel and abroad are generously donating whatever they can. Our aim is to donate a fully equipped ambulance and/or motorcycle(s) that are the first responders to the scene of any call, where they assess the situation and notify the ambulance on the way. Both are extremely important. Unfortunately, there are never enough.

Once again, we thank you for your brotherhood and concern.

Yours, sincerely and fraternally,

Ilan Segev, Grand Master

Jose Cohen, Grand Secretary 

Click here to donate directly to the Charity Fund of the Grand Lodge of the State of Israel.

     

‘A few words on the EA°’

    

We have a Ritual of Initiation upcoming at lodge in November, and our monthly magazine, The Herald, includes a few pages of educational reading focusing on a certain aspect of the EA° excerpted from Symbolical Masonry: An Interpretation of the Three Degrees by H.L. Haywood. (He was a member of our lodge a century ago, oddly enough.) Also in mind is Grand Lodge’s appeal on behalf of the Grand Lodge of Israel. Here are the relevant paragraphs:

Before a man can be persuaded to learn an art, he must realize his ignorance thereof; before he can be made to enter into a new life, he must be made to feel that he is in a natural state of ignorance in regard to that life. There is a certain method by which the candidate is prepared in our ceremonies that is designed to cause the Apprentice to know that, whatever may be his title and possessions in the world, he is poor, and naked, and blind as regards that new life which is Masonry. There is in this method no desire to humiliate him, as that word is understood, but there is every need that he experience humility, a very different thing.

Humiliation may come from disgrace, or some check of adverse fortune; humility is that lowliness of mind in which one becomes aware of his real position in the universe. To know one’s self is to be humble, for in the presence of the infinities of the universe an individual, be he the greatest of the great, is pitiably small and weak; “what is man that thou art mindful of him” is his cry, and he will be the last to strut with pride. A mere sense of humor alone would preserve a man against vanity, did he not also know that he is a frail creature, compounded of dirt and deity, hemmed in by ignorance, and weak every way. When a man compares himself with his fellows he may find cause for pride, but when he stands in the midst of that lodge which is itself a symbol of the cosmos, surrounded by emblems and images on which rests a weight of time more than that which lies upon the pyramids, where the All-Seeing Eye, symbol of omniscience, looks down upon all, he can but feel how frail, how unspeakably helpless and frail, he is. The worldling may eke out a modicum of pride in considering how much wealthier he may be, or more learned than another, but the Mason, acknowledging a law that demands he be perfect as the Father in Heaven is perfect, will be more inclined to cry “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Black Cat Caboodle

“Among the ancients,” writes Pierson, “the ceremony of discalceation, or the pulling off a shoe, indicated reverence for the presence of God.” The Pythagorean rule, that an initiate must “sacrifice and worship unshod” applied throughout the religious customs of antiquity. The priest removed “his shoes from off his feet” before entering the place of worship even as does the Muslim of today. Of this Mackey gives an interpretation as simple as it is wise! “The shoes, or sandals, were worn on ordinary occasions as a protection from the defilement of the ground. To continue to wear them, then, in a consecrated place, would be a tacit insinuation that the ground was equally polluted and capable of producing defilement. But, as the very character of a holy and consecrated spot precludes the idea of any sort of defilement or impurity, the acknowledgment that such was the case was conveyed symbolically by divesting the feet of all that protection from pollution and uncleanness which would be necessary in unconsecrated places. The Rite of Discalceation is, therefore, a symbol of reverence. It signifies, in the language of symbolism, that the spot which is about to be approached in this humble and reverent manner is consecrated to some holy purpose.

In the beginnings of the moral life of man, a place was made holy by being set apart, as the word literally means. The Sabbath was kept separate from other days; the Temple from other buildings; and the altar from all other spots of earth. This was a necessary teaching to cause men to recognize the mere existence of sacredness. But the floor of a Masonic lodge room is not made sacred in order to render other places defiled by contrast; rather is it to convince us that as the lodge is a holy place, so also should the whole world be, of which the lodge is a symbol. When men walk the common ways of life with bare feet, when they undertake every daily task with clean hands, when they seek out their fellowships with a pure heart, then will all life shine with the sanctity God intended, and the Universe be in fact, as well as theory, the Temple of Deity. In the days before our era when astrology and alchemy were seriously received by great minds, the planets were believed to rule variously over the fates of life, and each planet was supposed to be in some wise linked up with a corresponding metal. Lead was Saturn’s metal, iron belonged to Mars, copper to Venus, gold to the sun, etc. To keep one of these metals in one’s possession was to invite the influence of the planet to which it was sacred. Consequently, as a Candidate came to the Mysteries, he was divested of metals lest he bring some unwelcome planetary influence into the sanctuary.

If we find a far-off echo of this custom in our own ceremonies, we may understand that the lodge would thus symbolically exclude every jarring element from its fellowship. We may further understand it in another sense, as meaning that the possessions which secure us the services of the world have no potency in the lodge.

Of this, as we may read in his booklet on “Deeper Aspects of Masonic Symbolism,” A.E. Waite has written with characteristic insight. His words have a finality of wisdom that may fitly conclude a study of destitution:

“The question of certain things of a metallic kind, the absence of which plays an important part, is a little difficult from any point of view, though several explanations have been given. The better way toward their understanding is to put aside what is conventional and arbitrary—as, for example, the poverty of spirit and the denuded state of those who have not yet been enriched by the secret knowledge of the Royal and Holy Art. It goes deeper than this and represents the ordinary status of the world, when separated from any higher motive—the world-spirit, the extrinsic titles of recognition, the material standards. The Candidate is now to learn that there is another standard of values, and when he comes again into possession of the old tokens, he is to realise that their most important use is in the cause of others. You know under what striking circumstances this point is brought home to him.”

     

‘Direct aid to Israeli Masons’

    

Grand Lodge received a communique from the Grand Lodge of Israel yesterday that provides a way for Freemasons to donate funds to help, aid, and assist the brethren in Israel as they and their families cope with both the attack of October 7 and with logistical realities of a nation at war.

Today is the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the Grand Lodge of Israel, but I don’t imagine there was celebration. From this new letter and from the previous message from their Grand Master, we know Masons are distressed directly by the terrorist assault.

I believe New York Masons ought to work with our Masonic Brotherhood Fund (see here), but Masons outside the Grand Lodge of New York can give directly to the Grand Lodge of Israel. From the letter:

The horror stories are beyond belief, how a ‘human being’ can reach to such depths is incomprehensible. The documented acts of barbarity are too gruesome to begin to describe. Our hearts and prayers go out to those hostages, and their families, who are undoubtedly going through living hell! Coupled with this, there are stories of incredible heroism, of soldiers off duty, of citizens young and old—truly indicative of the spirit that prevails. The enemy will never break our spirit!

Whatever the faults may have been and however the nation was divided before this, the nation has united in a way that is totally incomprehensible, volunteering in every possible way... The Israeli Blue Craft Lodges have been amazing and are certainly playing their part in the war effort, providing meals, food, clothing, and games for the hundreds of people who were forced to flee from their homes and are staying in government sponsored housing or in private homes. They literally fled with the clothes on their backs, some, their homes burnt to nothing…tragedy after tragedy!

Special recognition should be given to Houdini Lodge, whose main purpose is to provide relief by magic shows and similar events. The brethren of this unique lodge have split into groups working seven days a week at hospitals and on Zoom to cheer up children. Masonically speaking, the Grand Lodge has allowed lodge meetings to continue by Zoom while providing lectures from the Grand Lodge twice a week to Freemasons across the country.

With all this, the list of the needs of the population never ends... The Charity Fund of the Grand Lodge of the State of Israel is funding as many of these needs within the financial constraints they face. This is in addition to the tremendous volunteering of brethren and their families... I therefore appeal to your generosity so that we too can play our part along with our sister Israeli Craft Lodges. We have Israeli tax exemption status, but unfortunately this is not the case in other countries.

Our greatest needs are in the south of the country. People are asking what are these needs? It is not an easy question to answer as the situation is so dynamic and we don't know what will happen tomorrow and the days following. Nevertheless, I have tried to categorize the immediate needs:

1. General – there is a need to help families with their daily requisites such as medicines, toiletries, diapers, food, clothing, etc… Some of these families have been sent to the center of the country and need help. In many cases, their spouses or children have been called up to serve the country.

2. Contact – Due to the situation there is a desperate need to keep contact with their friends and loved ones… for this we need more laptop computers and tablets.

3. Meals – as mentioned above, this war which is already in its second week, will take longer. As a result, we will need to make sure that we are able to help out as much as possible.

4. Counseling – Many people require psychological assistance. In Ashkelon and the South, the sirens are non-stop, people are constantly running to their shelters and for the elderly and the disabled, it is totally impossible. This counseling will continue for some time after the war ends and we would like to help where we can!

5. Rehabilitation – As I already said, each day brings its surprises and we must be prepared for the worst. Whatever happens there are hundreds of families who have to re-establish themselves, properties, equipment, cars, days of lost income and..and..and.. Naturally, we are very grateful for any assistance which our brethren can contribute. It will go to the Grand Lodge Charity Fund and be managed by them. 

To donate now to the Charity Fund of the Grand Lodge of the State of Israel [click here]… 

Unfortunately, among the casualties, there are some brethren and their families–a brother whose son was killed; a brother who survived the massacre together with his family, but whose daughter and son-in-law were taken hostage. Many of us have close family members who have been killed, wounded, missing or kidnapped. Our Past Grand Master’s grandnephew was killed. The list goes on… Israel is a small country and inevitably everyone knows of someone in distress!

     

‘Grand Lodge appeal for Israel’

    

The Grand Lodge of New York appeals to its Freemasons for aid for the State of Israel via the Grand Lodge of Israel. The letter:

We at the Grand Lodge of New York are trying to do our part towards answering the call of the distressed in providing a source of much needed help to those adversely affected by these unprovoked acts of violence and war against our Ally, the good citizens of the State of Israel. These unprecedented assaults, hostage taking and aggression by Hamas and other bad actors are especially traumatic and harrowing to the population of children and the elderly residing in both the cities and countryside of Gaza and Southern Region of Israel.

Your Grand Master, Most Worshipful Richard J. Kessler, and the Grand Lodge of New York, in a strong showing of solidarity with our fellow brethren of the Grand Lodge of the State of Israel, we look to the members of our noble Craft to demonstrate their heartfelt compassion and empathy for our fellow human beings during this their hour of darkness. Together, we will emerge from this tragic and dispirited experience united with a renewed zeal for bringing back peace, harmony and brotherhood throughout the world. The essence of True Masonic Brotherhood will be a beacon of hope for all to see and emulate.

In the name of this charitable and humanitarian effort in support of our brothers and their families within the State of Israel, we are grateful to receive your contributions, both large and small, as checks payable to the Masonic Brotherhood Fund earmarked for the Grand Lodge Emergency Relief Fund. Please mail your checks directly to:

Masonic Brotherhood Fund

71 West 23rd Street

New York, NY 10010-4149

We will ensure that all funds collected will be given to the Grand Lodge of the State of Israel to be used to help our fellow Israeli Brothers and their families to become whole once again.

In anticipation of your most generous support, please accept the warmest fraternal thanks on behalf of the Grand Master, the officers and members of the Grand Lodge for your kind-spirited gift to the Grand Lodge Emergency Relief Fund. The noted humanitarian and physician, Dr. Albert Schweitzer said it best, “There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed.” In memory of the many victims who are injured, maimed or have perished during this calamity, and in cohesion with their families and fellow countrymen, we gratefully bear witness to your genuine and unselfish expression of charity.

Thank you once again for your thoughtfulness and generosity for our fellow human beings during these trying times.

With kindest fraternal regards, I am sincerely,

RW Richard T. Schulz

Grand Secretary

cc: Grand Lodge of the State of Israel

     

‘You guys give your $3M today?’

    

According to the loathsome “United Nations,” today is International Day of Charity, so join me for a minute in the following discussion on Masonic charity. Obviously, there’s much that can be said, but I’ll skip the Rite of Destitution and the measured instructions to assist brethren, widows, and orphans, and I’ll challenge our orthodoxy on “giving to charity.”

You’ve heard it countless times: “Masons give $2 million a day to charity!” And there’s a high probability that you have repeated it yourself. From what I understand, that unquestioned figure is now $3 million. “Masons give $3 million a day to charity!”

Let’s be reasonable and think this over. That daily $3M factors to about $1.1 billion a year, so the implication is Freemasons in the United States annually dig into their pockets to that sum to help others, but I’m not buying it.

The $2M figure dates to mid twentieth century, when membership in America crested at four million in 1959–or, if not precisely then, it at least was from that era. Therefore it sounded plausible, believable, and logical enough to become the mantra we all came to know. However, today the nationwide membership is down 80 percent from 1959, and we are back in nineteenth century statistics with approximately 800,000 regular Master Masons in good standing—and that’s with inconsistent census-taking from grand lodge to grand lodge. Are 800,000 Master Masons donating $1.1 billion during Anno Lucis 6023?

Come on.

Due to the manipulations of the Internal Revenue Code of the United States—try deciphering those 6,900 pages!—the nature of charitable giving has been altered, forcibly, in recent decades, and today we have charitable corporations of the 501(c) variety. Some are big, like Shriners Hospitals for Children; some are modest, like your lodge’s square club’s charity fund. The square club’s checking account is where you find the actual cash from the pockets of Masons. The Shriners Hospitals, which always has been the engine that drove the “millions per day” claim, are endowed to the billions of dollars, and actually do not need the fraternity. The fraternity needs the hospitals to legitimize its existence. When the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine inevitably ceases to exist, the hospitals corporation will change its name and carry on.

I remember about fifteen years ago the expert consultants retained by the hospitals’ trustees to identify potential improvements to the system advised closing two of the then twenty-two hospitals that had gone disconcerting time without treating any patients. The trustees said no, so the two hospitals remained open, spending millions each year to maintain empty beds, and padding the famous “millions a day” boast.

Plus there are many other 501(c)(3) institutions at work: other hospitals, clinics, and care providers; medical research centers; homes for the elderly (which admit people who have no connection to the Masonic fraternity, thanks to Medicare regulations); special education schools; scholarship foundations; and who knows what else among the fifty-one grand jurisdictions in the mainstream of the Masonic society in America.

Maybe in the aggregate, and thanks to inflation, the corporate expenditures plus the local giving might total that $1.1 billion. I don’t have time to obtain the IRS 990s of all Masonic charities great and small. I just think it should be understood that:

a) bragging about charitable giving is self-aggrandizing and wrong;

b) the boast itself is misleading (if not myth); and

c) the boasting has skewed the identity and purpose of Freemasonry in this country irrevocably.

So try to defeat the lazy habit of leaning on funds donated decades ago to fashion an identity for yourself as we approach the second quarter of the twenty-first century. This edition of The Magpie Mason is dedicated to the Right Worshipful Grand Lecturer of the Grand Lodge of Kansas. Earl and I had a chat on Faceypage three months ago, during which I asked if he could explain his “more than $3 million a day” claim.

“There’s something called Google that was invented three days ago,” he replied charitably. “You should learn how to use it.” Eleemosynary Earl then blocked me, so I can’t tell him the internet actually is very limited in practical use to a researcher.

I was a Scottish Rite Mason as a younger man, and worked my way East in the local Rose Croix chapter (even before I reached the East of my lodge). I leave you with a snippet of Rose Croix Degree ritual (as it existed in the NMJ twenty years ago) that followed a reading from Corinthians 1:

“Charity means more—much more—than the giving of alms. It is respect for the personality of others; it is pity for the suffering; it is a sincere fraternal regard for all men—of every race and creed.”

It’s also hard as hell, and bragging about money, real or imagined, devalues us all.