Stephen Wise Free Synagogue’s Religious Action Committee plans and implements engaging programs to educate, advocate and act in pursuit of a better and more just world.

Stephen Wise Free Synagogue’s religious action work is overseen by Rabbi Samantha Natov and organized around:

• domestic policies affecting immigration, the judiciary and the rule of law;
• antisemitism in the United States and worldwide; or
• Israel, American policies and American Jews.

For any questions, contact Rabbi Samantha Natov at (212) 877-4050, ext. 244 or [email protected].

Caring Community Outreach

Emergency Food Program

Musical Mitzvah

Our founder, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise (1874–1949), co-founded the NAACP in 1909 and the American Jewish Congress in 1920, and served as a member of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Advisory Commission on Political Refugees from 1938 to 1945. We were among the first synagogues to house and operate a shelter for the homeless, and we were the first synagogue in the United States to appoint a woman rabbi. We continue this tradition today.