In the News

Huffington Post By Rabbi Marc Schneier and Russell Simmons October 23, 2013 There is a widely accepted belief that Muslims and Jews are enemies and will always remain so. However, nothing could be further from the truth. For the past six years The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding has not only challenged this narrative, but has facilitated a global dialogue between Muslims and Jews that is taking place on all six populated continents. This Muslim-Jewish dialogue is our annual Weekend of Twinning which...

The Times of Israel By Rabbi Marc Schneier As we approach Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, it is worthwhile to shed some light on a colorful, but relatively low profile ritual in the Yom Kippur liturgy known as the Azalzel, or the ritual of the two goats. This is a modern explication of a ceremony performed in biblical times in the Temple in Jerusalem in which the High Priest sacrificed one goat and set another one free into the desert of Judea in order to expiate the sins of the People of Israel....

Huffington Post By Rabbi Marc Schneier This Wednesday, August 28 when we commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington and the majestic “I Have a Dream” speech, we should reflect on the singular role the Jewish community played throughout the Civil Rights struggle and, in particular, remember with pride Jewish participation in the March on Washington itself. No segment of American society outside of the black community provided as strong and consistent support for Dr. King and the struggle...

Huffington Post By Rabbi Marc Schneier July 16, 2013 Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool welcomes Rabbi Marc Schneier at the Embassy of South Africa, Washington D.C., June 2013 As Nelson Mandela endures a grave illness with the same courage and dignity he evinced throughout his life, including the 27 long years he was held prisoner, Minister of Public Services Malusi Gigaba said recently that in his present weakened state, Mandela “is uniting the nation without even saying a word.” Indeed, Mandela’s legacy...

Huffington Post By Rabbi Marc Schneier FFEU’s First Delegation of Muslim and Jewish Leaders from Europe visits the White House in 2009, Photo: Walter Ruby. Secretary of State John Kerry performed an important public service on May 20 by personally announcing the release of the U.S. State Department’s 2012 Report on Religious Freedom, which contains the disturbing findings that anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are on the rise in countries around the world. Bad news is never welcome, yet Secretary Kerry...

Huffington Post By Rabbi Marc Schneier Shavuot (the two-day Festival of Weeks) by the Jewish people will commence Tuesday evening. The holiday commemorates revelation at Sinai, almost 3,300 years ago, when the Jews were chosen by God to receive the Ten Commandments. These 10 utterances and declarations became the moral and ethical foundation for Western civilization. It was at Sinai that the appellation “the chosen people” was first introduced. Exodus 19:5: God says to Moses, “Now then, if you will...

Huffington Post By Rabbi Marc Schneier Rabbi Marc Schneier and Imam Shamsi Ali speak before the “Today I am a Muslim Too” Rally at Time Square in 2011. In the wake of the horrific attacks in Boston last week perpetrated by two ethnic Chechen brothers who appear to have been motivated by extreme Islamist ideology, we are already seeing a dangerous tendency to blame the overall American Muslim community for the heinous deeds of a very few. Congressman Peter King (R-N.Y.), who held congressional hearings...

 The Times of Israel By Rabbi Marc Schneier Last Monday evening, President Barack Obama gathered with his family, members of his staff and other guests, many of them Jews and African-Americans, to hold his fifth seder since coming to the White House. Many Israelis, who until the President’s tour de force visit to Israel the previous week had tended to think of him as emotionally distant from Israel and Jewish concerns and sensitivities, were pleased to hear Obama state proudly during his dynamic...

The Jerusalem Post By Sam Sokol US president, family, friends celebrate Passover dinner with Seder, the “continuation of a longstanding custom” for the Obamas. The White House tradition of holding a Passover Seder, started by US President Barack Obama in 2009 during his first term, is the continuation of a longstanding Obama family tradition, according to interfaith advocate Rabbi Marc Schneier. Schneier is the president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and a vice president of the World...

Huffington Post By Rabbi Marc Schneier and Russell Simmons March 21, 2013 Russell Simmons visits the Western Wall for the first time with Rabbi Marc Schneier when the two were in Israel in June 2012 to deliver Keynotes at the Israeli Presidential Conference. Photo Credit: Sasson Tiram At the Passover Seder, when we recall the Ten Plagues that God visited upon the ancient Egyptians, it is important to remember that not all of the plagues manifested themselves in the form of physical afflictions....