This Sunday, March 17, marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, the namesake of our congregation and a pillar of the 20th Century American Jewish Community who helped shape Jewish life as we know it today. Throughout this week’s daily kavannot, we will explore many of his lasting contributions to our history and tradition.
Unlike many of his Reform contemporaries, who viewed the nascent Zionist enterprise as a distraction or even an obstacle to the goal of integrating into American society, and unlike many of his Orthodox contemporaries, who viewed the nascent Zionist enterprise as a rejection of messianic faith, Stephen Wise’s commitment to the land of Israel and to the global Jewish community ultimately transformed him into America’s leading Zionist.
Following the death of his grandfather, Rabbi Joseph Weisz, Stephen’s grandmother, Rachel, emigrated from Hungary to Jerusalem, where she lived out the remainder of her days. Meanwhile, Stephen’s father, Rabbi Aaron Wise, spoke passionately about the need for the Jewish to return to the land of Israel.
Already a member of the Federation of American Zionists, when Wise met Theodor Herzl in 1898 at the second Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, Wise became an ardent advocate of the Jewish people, which he expressed most often through his tireless commitment toward changing the minds of his fellow American Jews, especially rabbis.
In 1922, after years of rejections from Cincinnati’s Hebrew Union College, Rabbi Wise founded his own seminary in New York, the Jewish Institute of Religion, which ordained more than 200 rabbis, all influenced by Wise’s ardent commitment to Zionism. In 1948, the same year that Wise’s dream of a Jewish state was realized, his seminary would merge with the Hebrew Union College, now led by Rabbi Nelson Glueck, himself a devoted Zionist.
Wise continued to passionately advocate for Zionism throughout his life, as president of the Zionist Organization of America, as chairman of Keren HaYesod, and as founding president of the World Jewish Congress, demonstrating for all to see that American Jews could be simultaneously deeply patriotic and deeply Zionist.
— Rabbi Josh Knobel