TYPED LETTER SIGNED by the progressive rabbi STEPHEN SAMUEL WISE, an early supporter of Zionism who started the "Free Synagogue" movement, thanking James B. Pond for sending him passes for tickets to Maeterlinck's first American lecture.

New York, December 31, 1919., 1919.. Very good. - Over 70 words typed on his 6 inch high by 8 inch wide buff "Free Synagogue / New York" stationery. Stephen Samuel Wise thanks the American impresario and lecture agent James B. Pond for "sending the passes for the tickets" to Maurice Maeterlinck first lecture in America. Wise writes "I shall be a little late, because of a lecture of my own...." He further inquires if "I might have had two tickets for the other Maeterlinck recital on the 7th...." Signed "Stephen S. Wise". Folded for mailing. Very good.

Born in Budapest, Stephen Samuel Wise (1874-1949) emigrated to the US when his father accepted service as rabbi of Brooklyn's Congregation Baith Israel Anshei Emes. After completing his studies at Columbia University, Wise pursued rabbinical studies under several noted rabbis of the era, including Richard J.H. Gottheil, Kohut, Gersoni, Joffe, and Margolis. He was appointed assistant rabbi of NYC's Congregation B'nai Jeshurun becoming the Congregation's senior rabbi later that year. Taking over as rabbi of Portland, Oregon's Congregation Beth Israel, he attacked many of the social and political ills facing the country. He soon broke with the traditional reform movement and established his "Free Synagogue" in 1907, launching a movement. Wise was an early supporter of Zionism and laid the groundwork for what became the Zionist Organization of America and served as president of the American Jewish Congress. His good friend Albert Einstein profoundly praised him in a tribute that Einstein presented at the celebration of Wise' 60th birthday. In 1914, Wise co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Wise, early on, saw the threat posed by Hitler's rise in Germany and fought to shape U.S. public opinion against the growing German threat, leading efforts for a Jewish Boycott of Germany and the creation of the World Jewish Congress.

James B. Pond, the American impresario and lecture agent who headed the J.B. Pond Lyceum Bureau, brought the great Belgian poet Maurice Maeterlinck to America for a series of lectures. The first lecture took place at Carnegie hall on January 2nd, 1920. Unfortunately Maeterlinck failed to carry out his intention to lecture in English because of his labored "phonetic" English. He declared his intention to continue his lectures in French and have the translation read by another person. As a result, the lecture tour was a failure and lawsuits ensued on both sides.