46. Rabbi Marc Schneier

Ask people about who is the most influential Jewish spiritual and social leader on Long Island, and one name keeps coming up: Rabbi Marc Schneier, the chairman of the World Jewish Congress American Section and the past president of North American Board of Rabbis. In 2007 and 2008, he was on Newsweek’s top 50 American Rabbis list. As the founding rabbi of the Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach and the New York Synagogue in Manhattan, his influence grows. And he uses his high profile to build religious and racial tolerance (he won the Civil Rights Leadership Award in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.). The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, which he founded, is chaired by hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and promotes understanding between black and Jewish youth. His ongoing work to encourage understanding between Jews, Muslims, Christians and blacks, is a legacy as powerful as any.