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.
Rabbi ISHAI GOTTLIEB
Rabbi Ishai Gottlieb joins The Hampton Synagogue with a distinguished background in Torah scholarship, Zionist leadership, and global Jewish education. From 2022 to 2025, he served as Associate Rabbi at Congregation Schara Tzedeck in Vancouver, Canada, where he revitalized educational programming and brought an authentic Israeli spirit to community life.
A native of Bnei Brak, where his grandfather of blessed memory, Israel Gottlieb, served as Mayor (1969-1974, 1976-1978), Rabbi Gottlieb studied at Yeshivat Yatir and served as a commander in an elite IDF infantry unit. He continues to serve in the reserves as a Rav Seren (Major), most recently completing 100 days of active duty in October 2023. He holds rabbinic ordination from Yeshivat Givat HaMivtar, a Tanach Teaching Certificate from Herzog College, and a dual B.Sc. in Economics & Business Management and Agriculture from Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
His wife, Einat, is an experienced Jewish educator. In Vancouver, she taught at the Vancouver Hebrew Academy and led women’s programming at Schara Tzedeck. She now serves as East Coast Supervisor for Bat Ami, supporting Israeli shlichot in Jewish communities across North America.
The Gottliebs are proud parents of five children and are excited to begin their new chapter of community service on the East End, bringing their passion for Torah, education, and Jewish connection to The Hampton Synagogue.
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.
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.