Marc Schneier is an American rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

, and founder and president of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, http://www.ffeu.org and the founding rabbi of The Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach, New York

Westhampton Beach, New York

Westhampton Beach is an Incorporated Village in the town of Southampton, Suffolk County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 1,902.-History:...

 and the New York Synagogue in Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

.

Schneier is also chairman of the World Jewish Congress

World Jewish Congress

The World Jewish Congress was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations...

 American Section, and past president of the North American Board of Rabbis and the New York Board of Rabbis

New York Board of Rabbis

The New York Board of Rabbis is an organization of Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist rabbis in New York State and the surrounding portions of Connecticut and New Jersey....

, 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

Yeshiva University

Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...

, Schneier was rated number 37 of the top 50 most influential American rabbis by Newsweek

Newsweek

Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...

 magazine in 2007, and one of the 50 most prominent Jews in the United States by Forward

The Forward

The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...

. An advocate of tolerance

Toleration

Toleration is "the practice of deliberately allowing or permitting a thing of which one disapproves. One can meaningfully speak of tolerating, ie of allowing or permitting, only if one is in a position to disallow”. It has also been defined as "to bear or endure" or "to nourish, sustain or preserve"...

 and understanding between different ethnicities, he has been honored by the United States Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

 as well as the State of Israel, and is the recipient of the Kelly Miller Smith

Kelly Miller Smith

Kelly Miller Smith, Sr. was a Baptist preacher, author, and prominent activist in the American Civil Rights Movement.Smith was born and raised in the all-black community of Mound Bayou, Mississippi...

 Ecumenical Award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...

, the Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...

 "Measure of a Man" award from the NAACP, the Ellis Island

Ellis Island

Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...

 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.

Schneier has written and spoken extensively on intergroup relations, and is a frequent guest on television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 and radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 talk show

Talk show

A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....

s. 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

Civil rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 era, published in January, 2000; the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, which he founded with Joseph Papp

Joseph Papp

Joseph Papp was an American theatrical producer and director. Papp established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in downtown New York . "The Public," as it is known, has many small theatres within it...

 and is chaired by Hip hop

Hip hop

Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...

 mogul Russell Simmons

Russell Simmons

-External links:** * * * * * * from the US Holocaust Memorial Museum* *...

, 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.

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 http://www.forward.com/articles/15086/. 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.Ken Sunshine

Ken Sunshine

Kenneth Mark Sunshine is an American public relations consultant. He grew up in Long Island and attended Cornell University. Sunshine started his career working for the ASCAP and then moved on to politics, serving as chief of staff for David Dinkins during his time as Mayor of New York City...

, 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."

The Rabbinical Council of America

Rabbinical Council of America

The Rabbinical Council of America is one of the world's largest organizations of Orthodox rabbis; it is affiliated with The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, more commonly known as the Orthodox Union, or OU...

has decided to investigate Rabbi Schneier for breaching a code of ethics, and behavior that is unfitting for a rabbi.

External links

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