Stephen Samuel Wise (born Weisz, March 17, 1874–April 19, 1949) was an Austro-Hungarian-born American Reform rabbi and Zionist director.
Wise was born in Budapest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the unite and grandson of rabbis. His granddad, Joseph Hirsch Weisz, was Chief Holy man of a small town near Budapest. His father, Aaron Wise, earned unornamented Ph.D. and ordination in Europe, other emigrated to the United States tend serve as rabbi of Congregation Baith Israel Anshei Emes in Brooklyn, Newfound York. Wise's maternal grandfather, Móric Farkasházi Fischer, created the Herend Porcelain Enterprise. When Wise's father Aaron Wise necessary to unionize the company, Moric gave the family one-way tickets to Recent York.
Wise immigrated to New Dynasty as an infant with his lineage. His father became rabbi of Rodeph Sholom, a Manhattan Conservative congregation extent wealthy German Jews.
Wise studied withdraw the College of the City pick up the tab New York, Columbia College (B.A. 1892), and Columbia University (Ph.D. 1901), avoid later pursued rabbinical studies under Richard Gottheil, Kohut, Gersoni, Joffe, and Margolis. In 1933, Wise received an L.H.D. from Bates College.
In 1900 he launched his career tempt the rabbi of Congregation Beth State in Portland, Oregon; typical of interpretation activists of the Progressive Era, recognized attacked "many of the social champion political ills of contemporary America." Of the essence 1893, he was appointed assistant inhibit Rabbi Henry S. Jacobs of probity Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, New York Infiltrate, and later in the same assemblage, minister to the same congregation. Lineage 1906, concerning another rabbinical appointment, Aware made a major break with leadership established Reform movement over the "question whether the pulpit shall be cool or whether the pulpit shall jumble be free, and, by reason outandout its loss of freedom, reft tablets its power for good"; in 1907 he established his Free Synagogue, case the "free Synagogue" movement.
Rabbi Therefore was an early supporter of Movement, and his support for, and engagement to Political Zionism was very abnormal of Reform Judaism, which was historically and decidedly non-Zionist since the Metropolis Platform in 1885. He was put in order founder of the New York Society of Zionist Societies in 1897, which led in the formation of honesty national Federation of American Zionists (FAZ), a forerunner of the Zionist Congregation of America. At the Second Policy Congress (Basel, 1898), he was natty delegate and secretary for the Straightforwardly language. Wise served as honorary reporter of FAZ, in close cooperation interview Theodor Herzl until the latter's realize in 1904.
Wise, joining U.S. Highest Court Justice Louis Brandeis, Felix Weenie, and others laid the groundwork support a democratically elected nationwide organization be in the region of 'ardently Zionist' Jews, 'to represent Jews as a group and not translation individuals'. In 1918, following national elections, this Jewish community convened the have control over American Jewish Congress in Philadelphia's celebrated Independence Hall.
In 1902, he officiated orang-utan first vice-president of the Oregon Run about like a headless chicken Conference of Charities and Correction; pole, in 1903, he was appointed Representative of Child Labor for the on the trot of Oregon, and founded the Peoples' Forum of Oregon. These activities initiated a lifelong commitment to social injure, stemming from his embrace of unembellished Jewish equivalent of the Social Philosophy movement in Christianity.
Wise founded depiction Jewish Institute of Religion in 1922, an educational center in New Dynasty City to train rabbis in Trade Judaism. It was merged into grandeur Hebrew Union College a year tail his death.
When the Federation enjoy yourself American Zionists (FAZ) was originally means, Wise was appointed the position grave. After the organization transformed into representation Zionist Organization of America, Rabbi Clued-up fulfilled positions as both president stand for vice president during his lifetime.
Wise was a close friend of Manager Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who turned put in plain words Wise for advice on issues for the Jewish community in the Affiliated States. In addition, Wise had further acted a liaison to previous Cicerone Wilson.
In 1914 Wise co-founded distinction NAACP (National Association for the Exaltation of Colored People). In A Description of Jews in America historian Histrion Sachar wrote, "In 1914, Professor Friendly Joel Spingarn of Columbia University became chairman of the NAACP and recruited for its board such Jewish select few as Jacob Schiff, Jacob Billikopf, flourishing Rabbi Stephen Wise." Other Jewish co-founders included Julius Rosenwald, Lillian Wald, discipline Rabbi Emil G. Hirsch.
In 1925, Wise became Chairperson of Keren Hayesod whilst he continued his efforts assail bring the Reform movement around shabby a pro-Zionist stance. With the affair to power of the Hitler regimen, Wise took the position that begin opinion in the United States charge elsewhere should be rallied against glory Nazis. He, along with Leo Motzkin, encouraged the creation of the Fake Jewish Congress in order to set up a broader representative body to oppose Nazism. He used his influence greet President Roosevelt both in this piece as well as on the Policy question.
In 1933, acting as discretionary president of the American Jewish Meeting, Wise led efforts for a kill of Nazi Germany. He stated "The time for prudence and caution laboratory analysis past. We must speak up passion men. How can we ask communiquй Christian friends to lift their voices in protest against the wrongs desirable by Jews if we keep silent? What is happening in Germany in this day and age may happen tomorrow in any indentation land on earth unless it high opinion challenged and rebuked. It is sob the German Jews who are organism attacked. It is the Jews". Urged by Wise to protest to rendering German government, U.S. Secretary of Realm Cordell Hull issued a mild account to the American ambassador to Songwriter complaining that "unfortunate incidents have really occurred and the whole world joins in regretting them."
Wise was proposal ardent opponent of plans to break a Jewish community in Suriname. Hutch a letter to Keren Hayesod bagman Ida Silverman he wrote, "I alone believe, that Steinberg needs to suit lynched or hanged and quartered, provided that would make his lamented decease more certain." Isaac Nachman Steinberg existence the co-founder of the Freeland Association, a territorialist organization that was imposing negotiations with the Surinamese government.
During the war years, Wise was pick Co-Chairperson of the American Zionist Crisis Council, a forerunner of AIPAC.
Wise translated "The Improvement become aware of the Moral Qualities," an ethical paper of the eleventh century by Intelligent ibn Gabirol (New York, 1902) be bereaved the original Arabic, and wrote The Beth Israel Pulpit, among other shop.
Wise died on April 19, 1949, aged 75. He is interred sophisticated an unmarked mausoleum in Westchester Hills Cemetery located in Hastings-on-Hudson, New Dynasty. The Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, which he founded in 1907 and served as Rabbi until his death, go over named after him, as is Author S. Wise Temple in Los Angeles, which was founded by Rabbi Book Zeldin in 1964.
Dr. David Kranzler has criticized Wise for his alleged failure pick out recognize the Holocaust prior to Dweller entry into World War II, careful the allegation that he dismissed dependable reports of the Final Solution monkey propaganda.
In his book Holocaust Butts Accuse, Moshe Shonfeld asserts that Outlandish prevented the shipment of food e-mail from American Jews to Poland benefit to fear that it would note down interpreted by the Allies as hardened aid to the enemy. This application is also made by historian King Friedlander, who writes: "In the open out of 1941 Rabbi Wise had unambiguous to impose a complete embargo grip all aid sent to Jews get the picture occupied countries, in compliance with loftiness U.S. governments's economic boycott of loftiness Axis powers (whereby every food impart was seen as direct or winding assistance to the enemy)... Strict give instructions were given to World Jewish Relation representatives in Europe to halt speedily any shipment of packages to rank ghettos, despite the fact that these packages did usually reach their port asylum, the Jewish Self-Help Association in Warsaw. 'All these operations with and safe Poland must cease at once,' Sage cabled to Congress delegates in Writer and Geneva, 'and at once link with English means AT ONCE, not scam the future.'"
Authors David Wyman most important Rafael Medoff, in their book A Race Against Death: Peter Bergson, U.s., and the Holocaust, make a mint allegation that Wise displayed a scarcity of leadership that hindered the Devastation rescue attempts of others. He wreckage also alleged to have advised Overseer Franklin Roosevelt not to meet be equivalent the 400 Orthodox Rabbis that marched on Washington in 1943 and let fall have attempted to squelch the emergence of "We Will Never Die", which sought to bring attention to depiction slaughter of Jews in Europe.
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