Media coverage of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue has included feature articles and highlights in the many local, national and international news outlets. Below is some select coverage that highlights the synagogue.
Press inquiries may be directed to Communications Director Ryan Greiss at rgreiss@swfs.org or (212) 877-4050, ext. 267.
JNF-USA pledges $250,000 to Stephen Free Wise Synagogue to connect young American Jewish to Israel
Oct 31, 2024
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch has emerged as perhaps the Reform movement’s most vocal critic of the dangers of young Jews pulling away from Zionism. Now, armed with a $250,000 grant from the Jewish National Fund-USA’s Boruchin Center, Rabbi Hirsch’s synagogue will launch a leadership program for American Reform Jews, ages 22-35 across nine cities, to try to stem the tide. “We’re going to be able to reach substantially more people with more geographical diversity than we otherwise would have,” he told eJP.
News12 Israel (Hebrew): The Jewish Voice Chapter 1: A week for the US elections
Oct 29, 2024
Israel Channel 12 News visited Stephen Wise Free Synagogue before Shabbat to experience a Reform New York service and to speak with our Rabbi Ammi Hirsch about American attitudes — especially the younger generations — toward Israel after October 7th.
Re-Form: Examining the Challenges and Choices of America’s Largest Jewish Movement
Oct 22, 2024
On this episode of Tablet Studios’ “Re-Form: Examining the Challenges and Choices of America’s Largest Jewish Movement,” Rabbi Diana Fersko and Tablet’s Josh Kross use their final episode to look at the current state of Zionism in the Reform movement. They’re joined by Rabbi Ammi Hirsch whose recent, viral Yom Kippur sermon emphasized his stance that Zionism is an imperative for Jews today.
Mosaic Magazine: A Rabbi Wonders if Jews Sacrificed Their Sense of Peoplehood on the Altar of Universalism
Oct 22, 2024
The firm majority of American Jews appear to worry about rising antisemitism and to support Israel, but a vocal anti-Zionist minority gets much attention and has gained traction within some Jewish institutions. Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, in his Yom Kippur sermon, wondered if Reform Judaism made mistakes that contributed to this situation…
The Forward: Is anti-Zionism a sin? We asked the rabbi whose viral Yom Kippur sermon begged the question
Oct 14, 2024
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch has made advancing the Zionist cause a focal point of his work for more than 30 years at the forefront of Reform Judaism. But lately, he has been wondering where it all went wrong with young American Jews: “We wanted you to be Zionists,” he said in a viral clip from the sermon he posted on X this weekend. “We did not intend that our emphasis on tikkun olam — social repair — would lead some Jews to join anti-Israel demonstrations…” The Forward’s Louis Keene reached out to Rabbi Hirsch to hear the backstory; their conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
J-TV: Chabad Rabbi Reacts To Reform Rabbi Speech: ‘Why Is Reform Producing Anti-Israel Jews?’
Oct 14, 2024
On J-TV, Rabbi Manis Friedman reacts to Reform Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch’s speech where he questions why so many children of Reform communities ended up anti-Israel.
Times of Israel: To young American Jews who turned your backs on our people
Oct 13, 2024
Addressing young Jews directly on Yom Kippur and urging them to stay committed to Israel and the Jewish people, our Rabbi Ammi Hirsch writes in Times of Israel: “I love your generation. You are our future. Know that we tried to instill in you a sense of justice, virtue, honor and decency for all people, and if this leads you to be critics of Israel, so be it… At the same time, we wanted you to be Zionists. Direct your eyes and heart towards our people. If they rejoice, rejoice with them. If they suffer, suffer with them. Mourn with them. Support them. Help them.”
Haaretz: To Build a Space to Mourn All the Lives Lost – Palestinian, Israeli and More’
Oct 13, 2024
This Yom Kippur, many prayer services in New York City focused on reconciling between Israelis and Palestinians, reflecting on Zionism, and mourning all the lives lost on Oct. 7 and during the Gaza war. At the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch delivered a sermon that sparked criticism for his remarks about young Reform Jews turning their backs on Zionism. In his sermon, Hirsch stated, “We tried to instill in you a sense of justice, righteousness … to mourn the life of Palestinian civilians is a virtue … What we did not intend is for your generation to turn your backs on our people. We wanted you to be Zionists. Abandoning Israel, we desert God.”
The New York Times: A Year After Oct. 7 Massacre, Jewish Anxiety Peaks in Pennsylvania
Oct 7, 2024
Jewish voters in Pittsburgh feel squeezed by intolerance on the left and the right, and torn by presidential candidates seeking their support in a vital battleground state. The phenomenon is hardly limited to Orthodox Jews, or confined to Pittsburgh. In New York, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch condemned elite liberals he described as abandoning their Jewish allies over the past year. “Oct. 7 was an easy moral case: Babies in cribs and grandparents who could barely walk were slaughtered in their houses,” he thundered. “What does it take for those who consider themselves paragons of social justice to speak out for Jews, and if not Jews, at least in defense of the central values of Western enlightenment?”
Newsweek: In a Post-October 7 World, American Jews Face a Crisis of Confidence
Oct 6, 2024
“One of the saddest developments since October 7 is the shock experienced by American Jews, who, for the first time in their lives, are encountering pervasive antisemitism,” writes Rabbi Ammi Hirsch in Newsweek. “The realization that age-old hatreds are still alive and kicking, even in America, thrust American Jews into a crisis of confidence…”
