Marc Schneier

Rabbi Marc Schneier

Marc Schneier (born January 26, 1959) is an American rabbi, and founder and president of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, [1] and the founding rabbi of The Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach, New York and the New York Synagogue in Manhattan.

Schneier is also chairman of the World Jewish Congress American Section, and past president of the North American Board of Rabbis and the New York Board of Rabbis, as well as serving on the boards and executive committees of numerous organizations. He is the son of Rabbi Arthur Schneier, founder of the NGO, the Appeal of Conscience Foundation.

A graduate of Yeshiva University, Schneier was rated number 37 of the top 50 most influential American rabbis by Newsweek magazine in 2007, and one of the 50 most prominent Jews in the United States by Forward. An advocate of tolerance and understanding between different ethnicities, he has been honored by the United States Congress as well as the State of Israel, and is the recipient of the Kelly Miller Smith Ecumenical Award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Martin Luther King, Jr. "Measure of a Man" award from the NAACP, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, the Civil Rights Leadership Award in Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., the New York State Martin Luther King, Jr. Medal, and the American Civil Rights Education Services Civil Rights Award.

Sheikh Omar Abu-Namous, Rabbi Marc Schneier, and Imam Samer Alraey opening the U.S. national gathering of imams and rabbis on November 7, 2007, sponsored by Schneier's Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and the Islamic Cultural Center of New York in New York City

Schneier has written and spoken extensively on intergroup relations, and is a frequent guest on television and radio talk shows. He is the author of the book, Shared Dreams, an account of the relationship between the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Jewish community during the civil rights era, published in January, 2000; the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, which he founded with Joseph Papp and is chaired by Hip hop mogul Russell Simmons, produced a student guide based on the book which was distributed to thousands of Jewish and black students in hundreds of high schools and colleges in the United States.

In February 2009, he met with Pope Benedict XVI after the controversy over negationist comments by SSPX bishop Richard Williamson.^[1]

For his 50th birthday, his wife, Tobi Rubinstein-Schneier, arranged for a 400 lb. endangered Asian lion to be donated in his honor at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo [2]. The lion was renamed "Rabbi Marc".

Rabbi Schneier has been married four times. In June 2010, he announced to his congregation that he has been suffering from bi-polar disorder and will seek a divorce from his fourth wife.^[2]Ken Sunshine, a spokesman for Schneier, confirmed that the rabbi has been dealing with "a very serious illness," while reaffirming his status as a "renowned worldwide leader, and a pioneer in Muslim-Jewish relations."^[2]

The Rabbinical Council of America has decided to investigate Rabbi Schneier for breaching a code of ethics, and behavior that is unfitting for a rabbi.^[3]

References

• Rabbi Marc Schneier

1. ^ Pope condemns denial of Holocaust
2. ^ ^{a b} New York Post, Jun 27, 2010.
3. ^ "Rabbinical Group Poised to Investigate Marc Schneier," Gary Rosenblatt, The New York Jewish Week, August 31, 2010.

External links

• Interview with Marc Schneier and Russell Simmons from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

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Name	Schneier, Marc
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Date of birth	January 26, 1959
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