Hebrew letter societys I

The so called "Hebrew letter societies" began as a reaction against Greek letter societies. Greek letter societies (called fraternities, sororities, or academic honor societies) varied greatly but most shared some basic features, they had secert rituals, they had strict criteria for membership, they often had painful or difficult initiation ordeals that new members had to endure, and they named themselves with two or three greek letters.

Hebrew letter societies supposedly endeavoured to be everything that greek letter societies were not, but that is not really accurate; like greek societies they had the three letters, semi-mystical terms and symbols, and a dedication to camaraderie between members. Where they differed from greek societys was in their radically inclusive and open manner. The first hebrew society, Aleph Mem Shin, accepted every living human as an honorary member but limited full membership to those who knew about the existence of the organization. (Thus everyone reading this article is now a full member of alph mem shin) They did allow full members to leave the organization of their own choice, but since leaving membership required deciding to and somehow making this decision known, non-members spread the meme as well or better then members. Hebrew letter societys also had no structure or hierarchy, every full member was considered a leader and could create or alter the mission, rituals, or activities of the orginization thus making secrets imposible. New Hebrew letter societys started when some people objected to some of the activities being performed in the name of Aleph Mem Shin (Christian conservitive activism mostly), but liked the basic idea of Heberw groups.