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New York rabbi to make Qatar World Cup ‘kosher’

Rabbi Marc Schneier, a well-known rabbi of an upscale synagogue in the Hamptons on Long Island, New York, says he’ll advise Qatar on hosting Jews at the 2022 World Cup.

By David Isaac, World Israel News

Rabbi Marc Schneier, a well-known Orthodox rabbi of an upscale synagogue in the Hamptons on Long Island, New York, says Qatar has asked him to help advise it regarding hosting Jewish fans to the 2022 World Cup, a job which would include kosher food, Bloomberg News reports.

Schneier says Hassan Al-Thawadi, secretary-general of the organizing committee for the World Cup in Qatar, requested his help as thousands of Jewish fans are expected to attend the games.

In a phone interview, Al-Thawadi would not confirm the details of his conversation with Schneier, according to the Bloomberg report, which credited .  Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot with first reporting that Schneier would advise Al-Thawadi on the coming games.

Schneier has experience with kosher food and sporting events. In 1998, as head of the New York Board of Rabbis, “the city asked him to help set up kosher hot dog stands at the baseball stadiums where the Yankees and Mets play,” Bloomberg reports.

The rabbi spends a lot of time in the Persian Gulf states as a result of his Muslim-Jewish interfaith work. He heads the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, which describes itself on its website as “the global address for Muslim-Jewish relations.”

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Schneier was visiting the Persian Gulf last week. On Thursday, The Jerusalem Post reported that earlier this month Schneier was named  “special adviser to Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.”

According to that report, Schneier will help Bahrain make contacts with the Evangelical community in the U.S.

Schneier is the son of Rabbi Arthur Schneier of New York City’s Park East Synagogue, who in 2001 received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Bill Clinton.