About Us
Founding/Senior Rabbi
MARC SCHNEIER
Rabbi Marc Schneier is the American rabbinical leader who planted the seeds of the Abraham Accords. For more than 36 years, he has built the relationships across the Muslim world that made Gulf-Israel normalization possible.
He founded the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding in 1989 to rebuild the historic Black-Jewish alliance in the United States, and pivoted the Foundation in 2011 to make Muslim-Jewish relations its global mandate. In 1990, he founded The Hampton Synagogue, building a Jewish community in Westhampton Beach and creating a welcome home for celebrities, business leaders, politicians and anyone else seeking a place to pray.
A creative visionary, Rabbi Schneier has formed relationships with major cultural figures including Dale Chihuly, who, at his invitation, created his first and only Holocaust memorial for The Hampton Synagogue.
Rabbi Schneier is a recipient of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Jewish Agency Award for his leadership in Muslim-Jewish and Gulf-Israel relations, and was honored by the United States Congress in 2014 for his work strengthening the Black-Jewish alliance.
cantor
NETANEL HERSHTIK
Born in 1978, Netanel’s musical talent soon became apparent through his regular appearances as a child soloist in the Jerusalem Great Synagogue with his father, Naftali Hershtik. At the age of seven, he sang with this father in Australia, and throughout America and Europe. Educated at the Horev Yeshiva High School in Jerusalem and in Yeshivat Midbara Ke’eden, Netanel later served as an IDF combat paramedic.
Rabbi SHOLOM JENSEN
Rabbi Sean Jensen serves as the Assistant Rabbi of The Hampton Synagogue, where he works year-round to strengthen and grow the synagogue’s vibrant community. During the Winter months, he serves from his home in Israel, and each year returns to the Hamptons from after Passover through Thanksgiving to help lead the synagogue’s educational initiatives, special programming, and community outreach.
Rabbi Jensen first joined The Hampton Synagogue as Youth Director in the years before the COVID-19 pandemic. He later made aliyah with his wife, Aksana, and their younger children, Jonah and Shai. In 2024, he returned to the synagogue as Coordinator of Special Programming. His role expanded in 2025 and, in 2026, he was appointed Assistant Rabbi, working closely with Rabbi Marc Schneier to further the synagogue’s mission and vision.
Prior to joining The Hampton Synagogue, Rabbi Jensen spent nearly three decades serving the Great Neck Jewish community, including as Director of Admissions at North Shore Hebrew Academy High School and in leadership roles at Great Neck Synagogue. In Israel, he also served as the spiritual leader of the King Solomon School.
A passionate educator and community builder, Rabbi Jensen has led educational missions and heritage trips for teenagers and adults throughout the world, exploring Jewish communities across the Far East, Southern Africa, Alaska, Hawaii, and, of course, Israel. These journeys reflect his lifelong commitment to strengthening Jewish identity, building bridges between people of different faiths and cultures, and creating meaningful relationships around the world—a mission he is honored to continue alongside Rabbi Marc Schneier at The Hampton Synagogue.
MAESTRO
IZCHAK HAIMOV
The conductor of The Hampton Synagogue, is a celebrated name in the world of Jewish liturgical music. He holds a B.M. degree in Music from the National Music Academy of Tashkent in 1984 in Conducting.