Free Synagogue of Flushing

I first came to Free Synagogue in 1994 after my father died and I was looking for synagogue where I could respect his memory by saying Kaddish at Friday evening services. From the start, the congregation was warm and welcoming, without being overbearing. This was something I appreciated during and after my period of mourning. As the years progressed, I stayed at FSF, became more involved in its functions and activities and enrolled my son in the religious school there. My son became Bar Mitzvah in the magnificent sanctuary, surrounded by family, friends and synagogue family. I have remained deeply involved at this very special house of worship, learning and community. We are blessed to have had Cantor Steven Pearlston on the bimah and actively involved in synagogue activities for over 30 years, teaching our Bar/Bat Mitzvah students and adult education classes as well as offering an amazing variety of both sacred and popular music in a variety of settings. He was joined a few years ago by Rabbi Michael Weisser and they have formed a wonderful, synergistic pairing of talent and interests. Rabbi Weisser is has a warm, gentle manner that just pulls you in and makes you want to stay. Under his clerical leadership, FSF offers an informal Shabbat morning worship and Torah study that in four years has worked its way, verse by verse through Genesis and almost all the way through Exodus....talk about multiple opinions! When the now historic sanctuary building was erected in the 1920s, the founders were prescient enough to engrave the Biblical quote: "For mine house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples". Taken from that, the synagogue's catch phrase is "There is something for everyone under our dome". They couldn't be more right.