The Rabbi That Roared
![](https://images.forwardcdn.com/image/970x/center/images/cropped/rabbi-marc-the-lion-012909-1425725402.jpg)
Rabbi Marc weighs more than 400 pounds, and boasts a flowing blond mane. His namesake can’t relate.
Named this week for Rabbi Marc Schneier, the president and founder of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding in New York, Rabbi Marc is an Asian Lion holding court at the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo.
The naming ceremony was held Tuesday in celebration of Rabbi Schneier’s 50th birthday. Among the attendees was World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, who said the honor was fitting as Rabbi Schneier is known as the “lion of the rabbinate.”
Below is a photo of Rabbi Marc waving to Rabbi Schneier and his wife, Tobi, clad in a zoo-appropriate dress.
![](https://images.forwardcdn.com/image/675x/center/images/cropped/rabbi-marc-the-lion-012909-1425725402.jpg)
Asked for comment, Rabbi Marc replied: “Grrrrr….”
A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren
![](https://forward.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Jodi-Headshot.jpg)
We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.
With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.
— Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief