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.
Forbes: Clouded By Accusations Of Anti-Semitism, The Women’s March Loses Ground
Jan 17, 2019
As women across the U.S. are preparing to head to Washington, D.C., for the third annual Women’s March, ugly accusations of anti-Semitism have only been exacerbated by the refusal of Women’s March co-president Tamika Mallory to distance herself from the anti-Semitic statements of the Nation of Islam’s Louis Farrakhan. Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York chose to unequivocally disassociate from the Women’s March, although he added: “We are not disassociating from the original goals of Women’s March.”
The Forward: Rabbis Torn About Women’s March, Despite Secret Meeting With Sarsour, Mallory
Jan 16, 2019
New York rabbis are grappling with the same choice as many other Jews across the country: to attend a march that espouses principles most of the liberal community agrees with, or to stay home in protest of the anti-Semitism allegations and lose the opportunity to build alliances with other minority groups in attendance. The prominent Reform Stephen Wise Free Synagogue announced that it was formally disassociating with the national Women’s March organization over the anti-Semitism issue and affiliating with the Women’s March Alliance instead. “They better represented the values that we thought we were supporting when we supported the Women’s March” in 2017, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch explained.
Metro NY: Everything you need to know about NYC’s two Women’s March events
Jan 16, 2019
National Women’s March leadership in Washington has come under fire after accusations of anti-Semitism stemming from ties between Women’s March co-president Tamika Mallory and Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader who has a reputation of anti-Semitic remarks. Some Jewish community members leaders have since said they won’t attend the Women’s March New York City chapter, instead choosing to go to the Alliance’s Women’s March On New York City. Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue on the Upper West Side, said in a sermon that the synagogue was disassociating from the Washington faction.
The New York Times: How New York City Ended Up With 2 Competing Women’s Marches
Jan 16, 2019
Accusations of anti-Semitism against members of the national Women’s March leadership in Washington prompted Jewish organizations, civil rights groups and other local Women’s March organizations to break from them. “If you are sympathetic to those who are prejudiced against Jews, we cannot stand with you,” Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch said in a sermon at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue on the Upper West Side. At press time, the synagogue was disassociating from the Women’s March group and any events affiliated with it, and said it would hold a panel discussion sponsored by Zioness, a women’s organization, ahead of the January 19 Women’s March.
Jewish Insider: Why Stephen Wise Synagogue is now avoiding Women’s March Inc.
Jan 14, 2019
Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch spoke with Jewish Insider about Stephen Wise Free Synagogue’s decision to disassociate from Women’s March Inc. and that join the 2019 Women’s March On NYC under the auspices of Women’s March Alliance.
JNS: New York Reform synagogue distances itself from Women’s March leadership
Jan 14, 2019
Stephen Wise Free Synagogue announced it has disassociated from the Women’s March amid accusations of anti-Semitism against a few of the movement’s leaders such as their association with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
JTA: Southern Poverty Law Center and prominent NY synagogue leave national Women’s March
Jan 14, 2019
As mounting accusations of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel advocacy roiled the national Women’s March movement, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch announced that Stephen Wise Free Synagogue would disassociate from Women’s March Inc., and that it would join the 2019 Women’s March On NYC under the auspices of Women’s March Alliance. JTA also mentioned Stephen Wise in another article about how the Women’s March named three Jewish women to its steering committee and in its guide to which local marches are and aren’t affiliated with the national group, and why.
New York Family: Why To Consider A Religious School For Your Child
Jan 7, 2019
Our Director of Youth Education Rabbi Rena Rifkin makes the case for religious education in New York Family Magazine: “Judaism is not just about God and prayer. Judaism offers us a history, a community, and a set of values and ethics to guide our lives. Even if your family chooses not to celebrate holidays or follow ritual practices, you can still be guided by Jewish values and ethics.”
Makor Rishon (Hebrew): ‘The Reform Movement is going through an anti-Zionist period’
Dec 1, 2018
Our Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch criticizes the Reform movement’s leadership for taking anti-Israel positions, which deviate from the movement’s values and those of many of its members.
Haaretz: Then We Take Manhattan: How the ‘State of Tel Aviv’ Was Reborn in NYC
Nov 29, 2018
Haaretz’s New York correspondent Haim Handwerker writes about the phenomenon of Israelis flooding into Manhattan, and how Stephen Wise Free Synagogue encourages Israelis to join, and offers services and activities in Hebrew as part of a program called Chofshi B’Manhattan. This article originally appeared in Hebrew here.
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