In 1905, Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise then serving a congregation in Portland, Oregon, was under consideration as Rabbi of Temple Emanu–El in New York City, but withdrew his name after learning that his sermons would be reviewed in advance by the synagogue's board of trustees. In January 1906, The New York Times published a letter from Rabbi Wise that stated that the demands placed on him raised the "question whether the pulpit shall be free or whether the pulpit shall not be free, and, by reason of its loss of freedom, reft of its power for good." The Times noted that Wise planned to head to New York to "organize and lead an independent Jewish religious movement." Within months of this letter, Rabbi Wise started work toward a "free synagogue" holding services at the Hudson Theater on West 47th Street and on the Lower East Side. At a meeting on April 15, 1907, Henry Morgenthau, Sr. told the more than hundred assembled at the Hotel Savoy that "The Free Synagogue is to be free and democratic in its organization; it is to be pewless and dueless." In 1910, the congregation's 500 members celebrated Rosh Hashanah at Carnegie Hall, and a number of brownstones were purchased on West 68th Street in 1911 as the site of a permanent home for the synagogue. Branches of the Free Synagogue were started in the Bronx, Washington Heights, Manhattan, Flushing, Queens, Westchester County, New York and Newark, New Jersey in the period from 1914 to 1920.
Notable leaders
Rabbi Stephen Wise
Rabbi Wise served as the congregation's religious leader from his founding of the congregation in 1907 as the "Free Synagogue" until his death on April 19, 1949. Wise designated Rabbi Edward E. Klein as his successor. At a meeting of the congregation in May 1949, members voted unanimously to incorporate Rabbi Wise's name into the formal name of the congregation.
Rabbi Edward Klein
Rabbi Klein served as the compass for the synaguoge from 1949 until 1981, and as Rabbi Emeritus until his death in July 1985. His work at SWFS first started while he was in Rabbinical training. After his ordination he was invited to serve as Assistant Rabbi under Stephen Wise. Social Activism guided by ethics proved him to be a community minded voice who strongly believed in equality and social inclusion. In 1973 he choose to share his pulpit with the first female Assistant Rabbi in the US, Rabbi Sally Priesand. A portion of his papers can be found in The Rabbi Edward Klein Memorial Library at Stephen Wise Free Synagogue.
Rabbi Sally Priesand
Rabbi Sally Priesand, America’s first ordained female rabbi, brought a timely change to this Reform Synagogue, which she began serving in 1972, the same year she was ordained. It was a courageous decision to seek her training and very demonstrative of Reform Judaism to include a woman on its pulpit. Her attention to the congregation extended far beyond her speeches. She was very active in the Hebrew School and paid attention to how she would be shaping a new generation of youth while Assistant, and eventually Associate Rabbi. When Rabbi Klein had a stroke in 1978, she led this house through his return to the pulpit in his wheelchair on September 30, 1978. She left the following year when larger politics prevented her from leading the congregation herself. Rabbi Brickner soon arrived from Washington, DC.
Rabbi Balfour Brickner led the congregation from 1980 to 1992. During his leadership Brickner used the pulpit to speak out against US policies in Central America and with the South African Apartheid regime, and spoke out for the rights of Palestinians. He brought a more participatory service and made himself more accessible to members of the congregation.
