Marc Schneier

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."[1]

Schneier is a former vice-president of the World Jewish Congress.[2]

In 2001, Schneier reportedly held a secret meeting with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, known for espousing antisemitic views.[3]

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.[4][5]

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.[6][7][8] The RCA executive committee voted to expel Schneier in June 2015.[7]

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.[9]

Under pressure from his congregation for his multiple divorces and philandering, Schneier resigned in 2016 from his pulpit position at the Hampton Synagogue, which he had founded in 1990. Congregants had threatened to withhold pledges and payments until he left the synagogue.[10]

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.[11]

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

Rabbi Schneier has been married six times.[12] 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.[13] The lion was renamed "Rabbi Marc".

In June 2010, he announced to his congregation that he has been suffering from bi-polar disorder and would seek a divorce from his fourth wife.[14] Ken Sunshine, a spokesman for Schneier, confirmed that the rabbi had been dealing with "a very serious illness."[14]

Schneier married his 5th wife, on October 6, 2013.[15] They were later divorced and Schneier married his sixth wife, Simi Teitelbaum, in March, 2017. [16]

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 19-year-old son.[17][18]