Free Sons of Israel

U.S. Jewish fraternal order. The organization was founded by nine men in New York City on January 18, 1849. Its purpose was to seek the deletion of clauses in the New York City charter that restricted the appropriation of land for burial purposes, in order to obtain ground for a Jewish cemetery. The order long consisted primarily of German Jews. By 1970 the Free Sons of Israel consisted of 46 self-governing lodges.