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.
The Forward: Stop Stripping Female Jewish Converts Like Ivanka of Their Agency
Nov 20, 2018
Our Rabbi Diana Fersko addresses the media’s misogynistic tendency to describe women who convert to Judaism as doing so “for” their husbands — and stripping them of their agency in the process.
NY Jewish Week: Israeli Officials Let Down Guard On Trump, Kotel
Nov 7, 2018
New York Jewish Week Editor and Publisher Gary Rosenblatt writes about off-the-record conversations he’s had with Israeli officials about the growing rift in the diaspora-Israel relationship. He mentions Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main concern for the future, which is, as he quoted our Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, that: “Those who are not concerned with Jewish survival will not survive as Jews.”
amNewYork: After Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, New York rabbis plan message of healing, resolve
Nov 2, 2018
Still reeling from a Pittsburgh shooting that left 11 people dead and several more injured, rabbis across New York City are preparing for Shabbat this week, grappling to find ways to help their congregations process their grief and stand strong for the future. “The way Jews process grief is always communally,” our Senior Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch told amNewYork. “I think they will show up more than regular weekly Shabbat because I feel they will feel they need it, that they need some kind of communal spiritual gathering, simply to be with other people.”
Associated Press: Israel defends Trump amid synagogue shooting criticism
Oct 31, 2018
With President Donald Trump getting a cool welcome from the Jewish community in Pittsburgh, Israel’s envoy to the memorial ceremonies for the synagogue shooting victims came to his defense, saying it was “unfair and wrong” to link him to the tragedy. Our Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, who recently met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Israel’s relations with American Jews, said the Israeli government mishandled its response to the Pittsburgh shooting: “What the Israelis should have done is express unity with the Jewish community, unity with American society … and stand in solidarity. That’s all.” This story was picked up by The New York Times and The Washington Post, among other outlets.
New York Family: When Should Your Kids Start Religious School?
Oct 29, 2018
Our Director of Youth Education Rabbi Rena Rifkin discusses Challah Club, our revolutionary afternoon drop-off class that introduces young children to Jewish learning: “If we want our kids to be as good at Judaism, as well-versed and as thoughtful about Jewish life as they are at math, then we have to start as soon as we can.”
amNewYork: Pittsburgh synagogue massacre unites New Yorkers against hate
Oct 28, 2018
Following the shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, members of the Jewish community gathered at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue for a concert commemorating the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht. There, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch discussed what he felt was a rise in anti-Semitism and hate speech that stems, at least in part, from the rhetoric of President Trump: “Obviously, the tone starts at the top. You cannot isolate intolerant speech on any particular community. If you direct harsh, coarse rhetoric toward a certain group — say Mexicans — it infects our entire society and it gives license to a coarseness and hoarseness of speech to the groups that are perceived as the ‘other.’”
NY Jewish Week: Trying To Bridge The Great Divide
Oct 26, 2018
Our Senior Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch weighs in on the difficulty incoming Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Isaac “Bougie” Herzog will have in bridging the growing chasm between Israeli and diaspora Jewry.
J-Wire: Israel is The Nation State of The Jewish People
Oct 25, 2018
At the Jewish Federations GA in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said what worried him more than the Western Wall was loss of Jewish identity outside of Israel. He cited an op-ed in JTA by our Senior Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch to illustrate his point: “In the modern world, those who are not committed to Jewish survival will not survive as Jews.”
The Jerusalem Post: Reforming the Reform Movement
Oct 25, 2018
Our Senior Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch sat down with The Jerusalem Post’s editor in chief, Yaakov Katz, to discuss the state of the relationship between Israel and American Jewry, and the future of liberal Judaism in both countries.
The Jerusalem Post: Netanyahu Reaffirms Commitment to Demilitarized Palestinian State
Oct 24, 2018
At the Jewish Federations GA in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu quoted our Senior Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, who wrote in JTA: “Those who are not committed to Jewish survival will not survive as Jews.” Hirsch’s op-ed, adapted from his 2018 Yom Kippur sermon, “From the Ghetto,” is here.
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