1874 - 1949 STEPHEN SAMUEL WISE (USA)
Rabbi, Zionist leader, and champion of liberal causes. Wise, who was ordained at age 19, became a leading advocate for the Zionist cause. Wise served as president of the American Zionist Organization and chairman of the United Palestine Appeal. As one of the founders of the World Jewish Congress he was among the first to warn about the dangers of Nazism. Wise promoted the freedom of Rabbis to deliver sermons of their choice - "free pulpit" - and not be dependent on the approval of the board of trustees. In 1907 he founded the Free Synagogue in New York and later the Jewish Institute of Religion (see 1922).
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