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 highlight the synagogue.
Press inquiries may be directed to Communications Director Ryan Greiss at rgreiss@swfs.org or (212) 877-4050, ext. 267.
Jewish Link: UN Rally Demands Release of Hostages
Apr 11, 2024
At an April 7 rally for the hostages still being held in Gaza, rabbinical figures offered words of strength. Addressing the hostages’ families present, our Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch said, “We are here to urge you to not lose hope, and we will stand with you no matter how long it takes.”
eJewishPhilanthropy: Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch and the possible ‘crisis’ facing Reform Judaism
Apr 5, 2024
For decades, our Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch has been an unequivocally pro-Israel voice within the Reform movement. During a time that Hirsch, fresh off his latest solidarity visit to Israel, calls “a period [that will] be viewed 100 years from now as consequential in Jewish history,” he sat down with eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen to discuss where the Reform movement is now, where it should be and where it is headed. With efforts underway in the Reform movement to enhance Zionist identity, Hirsch warned, “It’s not too late. But it is late.”
Duluth News Tribune: Superior’s crossroads also influenced Dylan’s music
Mar 28, 2024
Our Cantor Dan Singer wishes “that the ‘Like a Complete Unknown’ movie would shine a light on Superior and the Hammond family’s huge influence on Dylan’s meteoric rise to fame,” he writes in the Duluth News Tribune ahead of a concert he’s planning in his Wisconsin hometown.
Jerusalem Post: Prominent Reform rabbi denounces progressive groups for siding with Hamas
Mar 19, 2024
In a Friday sermon, our Rabbi Ammi Hirsch warned of a “deteriorating commitment to liberal values on the Left,” camouflaged behind ideological rhetoric about anti-racism, anti-colonialism, human rights, and progress, threatening not just the Middle East, but all of Western civilization.
SAPIR Journal: It Is Still October 7
Mar 18, 2024
“October 7, 2023, forever changed Jewish history. The cataclysm is so profound that it will take years to fully understand. Time froze. It is still October 7,” writes Rabbi Ammi Hirsch in SAPIR Journal, outlining the pressing challenges Jews in the United States face around Zionism, antisemitism and Western liberalism, and urging the virtues of moderation.
New York Dreamers Podcast (Hebrew) with guest with Rabbi Ammi Hirsch: Jewish families in America are being torn apart…
Feb 29, 2024
Speaking (in Hebrew) with Haaretz’s Haim Handwerker, our Rabbi Ammi Hirsch discusses how and why such a large gap has arisen between the young Jews who are increasingly organizing against instead and their Zionist parents.
Haaretz (Hebrew): The Black-Latino American Congressman who Supports Israel, Right Now
Feb 27, 2024
Rep. Richie Torres of New York — the first member of Congress who is Afro-Latino and openly gay — “is a beacon of light for many liberal Jews in the United States,” writes Haaretz’s Haim Handwerker. Our Rabbi Ammi Hirsch told Handwerker that Rep. Torres is “our hope to push back the radical left.” (In Hebrew)
The Jerusalem Post: What does Judaism say about saving hostages? Halachic authorities explain
Feb 9, 2024
Pidyon shvuyim, the redemption of captives, is a major obligation of the community, according to Torah law. The Jerusalem Post Magazine’s Atara Beck spoke with five spiritual leaders — including our Rabbi Ammi Hirsch — for their perspectives.
Jewish Insider: Meet the college president unafraid of speaking out against terrorism
Jan 17, 2024
Our Rabbi Ammi Hirsch’s sister, Ora Hirsch Pescovitz, who is president of Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, was among the first — if not the first — and few university presidents to issue a statement condemning the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.
NY Jewish Week: 10 Jewish ways to mark Martin Luther King Day in New York this year
Jan 11, 2024
This weekend, communities around the United States will celebrate the life and legacy of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Here in New York City, Jewish communities will honor King by hosting interfaith Shabbat dinners, providing community service opportunities and more. The Upper West Side’s Stephen Wise Free Synagogue will hold a Shabbat of Service on Saturday at 1:00 p.m., where volunteers will help make sandwiches and pack up meals to feed hungry New Yorkers and resupply NYC community fridges.