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.
Detroit Free Press: Civil rights activism inspired OU president’s gift to recruit, retain diverse faculty
Feb 20, 2021
The Detroit Free Press reports that our Senior Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch’s sister, Ora Pescovitz, endowed a $250,000 gift to Oakland University, of which she is president, to honor their father and late mother. The Rabbi Richard G. and Bella Hirsch Faculty Endowment for Racial and Social Justice will focus on recruiting and retaining diverse faculty members.
The Jerusalem Post: Senior Rabbi accuses Trump of ‘sledgehammering democratic norms’
Oct 31, 2020
On the Shabbat before Election Day, our Senior Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch worried about the threat of violence in the coming weeks, no matter the outcome: “I am deeply worried about our country. The American experiment rests on two central propositions that are under withering assault: the right to vote, and the peaceful transfer of power. On this last Shabbat before our fateful choice, we pray for the peace of our nation.”
The Jerusalem Post: NY synagogue Cries Out ‘Black Lives Matter’ in Rosh Hashanah Sermon
Sep 20, 2020
Our Senior Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch opened the Jewish New Year with a special message of “optimism and moral clarity,” as the synagogue called it, by stating that “Black lives matter” — and perpetuating the deep underlying connection that exists between the Jewish and African-American communities in the U.S.
NY Jewish Week: Rabbis See Birth of New Movement for Civil Rights
Jun 9, 2020
Following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, our Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch voiced his support for protests and criticized the response of our country’s “politically incompetent and morally deficient national leadership” at a time when there is an “assault on the guardrails of democracy.”
NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt
Mar 25, 2020
Our streaming Friday evening Shabbat services were featured in a segment about how houses of worship are dealing with the ongoing coronavirus situation.
Associated Press: Two 20-somethings extend ‘invisible hands’ in virus outbreak
Mar 18, 2020
Eighty-three-year-old Carol Sterling has been sheltering at home during the coronavirus outbreak. Our Cantor Dan Singer connected her with another Stephen Wise congregant, Liam Elkind, who is helping to deliver groceries and medicine to older New Yorkers and other vulnerable people. This story was picked up by The New York Times, The Daily Mail, and hundreds of other media outlets.
NY Jewish Week: A Big Night for Netanyahu Is a Letdown for Liberal Jews
Mar 3, 2020
Israel’s consul general in New York, Amb. Dani Dayan, visted Lomdim Chofshi, our Israeli outreach initiative’s Hebrew school. Dayan spoke with the students about what being Israel means to him and the challenges and rewards of his job representing Israel in New York.
Yediot America (Hebrew): Hebrew in Manhattan
Feb 28, 2020
Israel’s consul general in New York, Amb. Dani Dayan, visted Lomdim Chofshi, our Israeli outreach initiative’s Hebrew school. Dayan spoke with the students about what being Israel means to him and the challenges and rewards of his job representing Israel in New York.
The New York Times: The Anti-Israel Craze Hits High School
Jan 16, 2020
“We are deeply worried about the effect that hatred of Israel has on students,” wrote our Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch and Temple Emanu-El’s Rabbi Joshua Davidson in The New York Times. “When teachers turn the classroom into an arena for anti-Israel animosity, students become unwitting pawns instead of safeguarded learners.” New York Jewish Week, Mosaic, The Jewish Journal in Los Angeles, The Jewish Star, Jewish Currents, and +972 Magazine covered this opinion piece.
The New York Times: Fieldston, Elite Private School, Faces Backlash From Jewish Parents
Jan 10, 2020
Our Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch and Temple Emanu-El’s Rabbi Joshua Davidson spoke to Fieldston students about anti-Semitism and defended Zionism on the same day the school fired a teacher who had posted multiple tweets disparaging Zionism. This story was also covered by The New York Post, JTA, JNS, The Washington Free Beacon and The Riverdale Press.
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