11 Facts About Jonah Wise

Rabbi Jonah Bondi Wise was an American rabbi and leader of the Reform Judaism movement, who served for over thirty years as rabbi of the Central Synagogue in Manhattan and was a founder of the United Jewish Appeal, serving as its chairman from its creation in 1939 until 1958.

Jonah Wise was born on February 21,1881, the son of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise the founder of Reform Judaism in the United States.

Jonah Wise graduated from Hebrew Union College and the University of Cincinnati in 1903.

Jonah Wise continued his studies at the University of Berlin and the University of Bern.

Rabbi Jonah Wise was chosen to lead the Central Synagogue in Manhattan, the oldest Reform congregation in continuous use in New York City and whose cornerstone had been laid by his father in 1870.

Rabbi Jonah Wise had been selected in 1931 to head the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, working to restructure the organization's finances in the face of efforts to liquidate the philanthropy which had suffered financially during the Great Depression.

Jonah Wise was described as "a pioneer in Jewish religious broadcasting" by The New York Times, beginning his "Message of Israel" Sunday morning radio broadcast in 1934, which continued until two weeks before his death.

Jonah Wise was chosen by President Franklin D Roosevelt in 1938 to serve as a delegate to the Evian Conference, where representatives of 32 countries met at Evian-les-Bains, France, to discuss the problem of Jewish refugees.

At a 1954 ceremony honoring his fiftieth year as a rabbi, Jonah Wise received a proclamation from the Hebrew Union College that described him as "one of the most contributive and distinguished leaders of American Judaism of this generation".

Jonah Wise married the former Helen Rosenfeld of Portland, Oregon, on June 23,1909.

Rabbi Jonah Wise died at age 77 on February 1,1959, at Doctors Hospital in Manhattan, after being ill for a week.