Last update - 00:00 14/01/2007
Rabbi among top N.Y. leaders to attend Martin Luther King event
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent
Orthodox Rabbi Marc Schneier, the spiritual leader of the New York Synagogue and the founder of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, is expected to be honored among New York leaders Sunday at a ceremony in the Harlem neighborhood marking Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Other prominent figures expected to participate in the day's central event are Senator Hillary Clinton, New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Reverend Al Sharpton, a political activist who has made anti-Semitic comments in the past, will be one of the keynote speakers at the event. The ceremony is one of a string of events scheduled to commemorate the slain civil rights leader, a day ahead of the calendar holiday.
Schneier, who has been named as one of the 50 most prominent Jews in the United States, founded the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding in 1989 in a bid to strengthen relations between Jews and blacks. He has become widely known for the friendships and associations he has established with businessmen and leaders from within the American black community.
This year, Schneier has decided to use Martin Luther King Jr., Day as an opportunity to promote dialogue and understanding between Jews and Muslims in New York.
Schneier will deliver an address Sunday at the New York Mosque as part of a public dialogue alongside Imam Omar Abu Namus, the mosque's spiritual leader. Dr. Israel Singer, an ordained Orthodox rabbi and a leader of the World Zionist Congress, will also speak at the event. The event will mark the first time an Orthodox community leader in the United States has spoken at a mosque.
The timing of his appearance at the mosque was intended to coincide with Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Schneier said. His speech will highlight the legacy of anti-violence and tolerance to which the civil rights leader dedicated his life.
Schneier wrote a book in 2000 entitled Shared Dreams, which documented King Jr.'s relationship with the American Jewish community. He has also won numerous awards, including The Kelly Miller Smith Ecumenical Award from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, The NAACP Martin Luther King, Jr. "Measure Of A Man Award", The Ellis Island Medal of Honor, The Civil Rights Leadership Award in Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., The New York State Martin Luther King, Jr. Medal and the American Civil Rights Education Services Civil Rights Award.