Marc Schneier

Template:Short description Template:Wikidata image Marc Schneier (born January 26, 1959) is an American rabbi and president of The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. Schneier previously served as vice-president of the World Jewish Congress.

Career

According to Tablet, Schneier "is a polarizing figure. To his supporters, [he] is a peerless institution-builder and community leader. To his detractors, he's indulged an appetite for fame and wealth while plowing his way through five marriages, destroying fragile bonds of trust with his congregants in the process."

In 1999, Schneier authored the book Shared Dreams: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Jewish Community which is the first reference to the Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend, an open letter allegedly written by Martin Luther King Jr. which was later determined to be a hoax.

File:Interreligious-Meeting - Mustafa Ceric - Herman Van-Rompuy-Marc-Schneier - Abdujalil Sajid - Brussels 2010.jpg

First Gathering of European Muslim and Jewish leaders in Brussels, December 2010 – left to right: Grand Mufti Mustafa Ceric – European Council President Herman Van Rompuy – Rabbi Marc Schneier – Imam Dr. Abdujalil Sajid

Schneier has also worked together with Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), the American Muslim advocacy organization, which the organized American Jewish community has long viewed as "out of bounds" for its alleged ties to the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas and its broader anti-Israel activity and rhetoric.

The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) decided in 2010 to investigate Rabbi Schneier for breaching the code of ethics by carrying on an extramarital relationship. The RCA executive committee voted to expel Schneier in June 2015.

In 2013, Schneier co-authored with Imam Shamsi Ali the book Sons of Abraham: A Candid Conversation about the Issues That Divide and Unite Jews and Muslims.

In 2018, Tablet reported that Schneier helped connect the Qatari government to Jewish American lobbyist Nicolas Muzin. In 2017 Qatar hired Nick Muzin to improve its relations with the Trump administration and the Jewish American community. Muzin's work reportedly included arranging meetings between Qatari officials and leaders of Jewish and pro-Israel advocacy groups.

In a 2018 interview with The Times of Israel, Schneier said that he was "of course" a Zionist, adding, "I’m passionate about Israel. You know, I’m all for dialogue, but cross a line with me on Israel, I’m like a rabid dog." Schneier further elaborated to the Times that "Israel is not some 70-year-old political aspiration for the Jewish people. It’s [...] at the very core of Judaism for 3,300 years," and compared a Jew distancing themselves from Israel to a Muslim abandoning halal practices.

Personal life

File:FFEU Imams and rabbis.jpg

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

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

Schneier married his 5th wife, on October 6, 2013.

Schneier married his 6th wife, Simi Teitelbaum, in 2017.

In February 2018, it was reported that the State of Florida has ordered Schneier pay $5,000 a month for $64,594 in unpaid child support he owes to his third wife for the care of their then-19 year old son.

He is the son of Rabbi Arthur Schneier.