Stephen Wise Free Synagogue becomes the first synagogue in New York City to open an on-site homeless shelter. A few months earlier, New York Mayor Ed Koch had given a speech here asking faith-based communities to get involved in the issue of homelessness.
Rabbi Helene Ferris was installed as associate rabbi. During her 10-year tenure, she pioneered numerous educational programs and social justice initiatives.
Rabbi Balfour Brickner brings his vision of liberal Judaism to Stephen Wise Free Synagogue.
Sally Priesand, the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi, is installed as associate rabbi.
The synagogue is dedicated and renamed Stephen Wise Free Synagogue.
Rabbi Stephen S. Wise dies at age 75.
Edward Klein becomes senior rabbi of The Free Synagogue, serving from 1949 to 1981, when he became rabbi emeritus. Across those decades, he was a leading voice on issues ranging from civil rights to the war in Vietnam, from nuclear testing to urban redevelopment.
