Free Synagogue of Flushing

About this property

The Free Synagogue of Flushing is a Reform Jewish congregation and historic synagogue located at 41-60 Kissena Boulevard in the Flushing neighborhood of Queens in New York City, New York, United States. The synagogue's establishment is based on the free synagogue movement, started by Stephen Samuel Wise. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009. The Free Synagogue of Flushing was founded in 1917 on Sanford Avenue by the Hebrew Women's Aid Society, in keeping with the philosophy of the first Free Synagogue, the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in Manhattan. In the New York Tribune in 1906, an interview with Rabbi Wise explained his plans and meaning of "free synagogue": "The Free Synagogue will, as its name implies, be free in so far as its pulpit will be free and untrammeled, free to voice without free or scruple the high moral and spiritual teachings of the synagogue. It will thus do much to regain the moral support, which church and synagogue alike, alas! are losing or have lost." These principles include freedom of the pulpit, freedom in religious philosophy, freedom in terms of seating, and men and women are equal in participation and leadership. For much of its history, the synagogue has been a bastion of liberal thought and social activism. It is the oldest Reform congregation in Queens. When the synagogue was established with the aid of Rabbi Sidney Goldstein of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, it purchased the white house at the then quiet intersection of Kissena Boulevard and Sanford Avenue. The first synagogue was a stately pillared mansion designed by the architectural firm of McKim, Mead & White, which stood on the corner of the lot. Some years later, the synagogue membership had grown so large it was decided a new sanctuary had to be built. During World War I, the Hebrew Women's Aid Society commissioned the architect Maurice Courland to build a synagogue on Kissena Boulevard. During its early years, the synagogue was served by three rabbis for relatively short periods of time. They included Rabbi Bernard Cantor, who left on a mission for the Joint Distribution Committee to help oppressed Jews in Eastern Europe. While doing his humanitarian work, Cantor was murdered by bandits in southern Russia. The anniversary of his death is still observed. Cantor was succeeded by Rabbi Abraham J. Feldman, who later went to Hartford, Connecticut, and he in turn was followed by Rabbi Maxwell Silver, a brother of Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver, the famed Zionist and counselor to a number of American presidents. When Silver left in 1922, the temple turned to Wise for help, and he selected Rabbi Max Meyer to serve on a "temporary basis", which lasted 40 years. Meyer was the prime mover in the growth and development of the Free Synagogue of Flushing. He also served as chairman of the North Shore branch of the Long Island division of the American Jewish Congress.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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