In the News

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....

The Wall Street Journal By Adrienne Gaffney If the ultimate currency in Manhattan is real estate, one can do no better in voicing their philanthropic devotion than offering up their home in support of the cause. Russell Simmons did just that on Monday night, hosting 250 guests in his downtown penthouse for a reception supporting the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. The organization, of which Mr. Simmons is chairman, was founded by Rabbi Marc Schneier in 1989 to foster relationships between...

The Jerusalem Post By Marc Schneier There is no disputing the historic significance of President Barack Obama’s state visit to Israel. There is no disputing the historic significance of President Barack Obama’s state visit to Israel; his first since he was elected our nation’s chief executive just over four years ago. During his first term, the president did a great deal to make clear to all – including Israel’s adversaries – that he has the back of the Jewish state. In the face of unfair charges...

Politico By Kevin Cirilli Sean Hannity unleashed on Rep. Keith Ellison on Thursday night after a heated interview earlier in the week, charging that Ellison spent years spewing hateful rhetoric that the Fox News host suggested was as extreme as the Ku Klux Klan. On his program, Hannity linked Ellison to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and the late-Black Militant leader Khalid Muhammed. “The reality is, the Congressman not only associated with these radicals – but he spent years spewing their...

Jewish Journal of Greater LA By Ryan Torok Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons is bringing his passion for Jewish-Muslim relations to the West Coast. Simmons, who co-founded record label Def Jam at the age of 26 and helped jumpstart the careers of the Beastie Boys and LL Cool J, relocated from New York to Los Angeles in January to pursue the development of film and television projects, he recently told the Journal. But while here, he also hopes to bring more visibility to the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding,...

Huffington Post By Rabbi Marc Schneier The House Foreign Affairs Committee will hold hearings today on the disturbing rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. In a pre-hearing interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, sub-committee chairman, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), said that anti-Semitism “is getting demonstrably worse all over the world, but especially Europe … The Middle East is a cauldron of anti-Semitic hate, but much of that hatred is spilling out through the Muslim Diaspora and through...