People
RABBI CARL CHOPER, Executive Director
Rabbi Carl S. Choper (right) is presented with the Harambee Award for the Nguzo Saba Principle of Ujoma-Unity by Pastor Nathanial Gadsden, Co-Founder of Life Esteem. The award was presented to Rabbi Choper at the Cooperating Congregations event held Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at the Hadee Mosque in Harrisburg.
Rabbi Carl Choper has been involved actively in interfaith dialogue for over twenty-five years. He has participated in seminars and workshops in interfaith dialogue that have lasted for days and weeks at a time. He has organized dialogues both in academic and community settings.
Rabbi Choper, through his career, has played several roles. Rabbi Choper has served as a Chaplain in several settings. He served as the Rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania for 16 years. He has served as an Adjunct Professor at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, and for Lebanon Valley College where he taught Religion in America. He was the Project Coordinator for the successful launching of a synagogue congregation in Center City Philadelphia.
Rabbi Choper is a graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote, Pennsylvania. There he was ordained and earned a Master's of Arts in Hebrew Letters (1990). While studying for his Masters of Arts in American Studies (1986) from the University of Maryland, he focused on religion in America. His Bachelor's degree (1984) from the University of Maryland is in Urban Studies with a concentration in community and neighborhood development. He also studied in Israel for a year.
He is a member of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, the Philadelphia Board of Rabbis, and the Religious Research Association. He is an Associate Member of the National Association of Jewish Chaplains and a Fellow of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality.
MARK WIDOFF
Mark Widoff has practiced law since 1968 in private practice, in government service, most notably as the Pennsylvania’s first Consumer Advocate, and in non profit legal services programs. He retired as General Counsel of the Pennsylvania State Education Association in 2006, after 17 years of service. Mr. Widoff has an L.L.B. from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts, Liberal Arts and History from Clark University. Mr. Widoff is co-founder of the Keystone Research Center, an organization that explores and critiques how state economic pressures and policies affect lives at work and in the community. Mr. Widoff has served in the Peace Corps and he's been recognized as a Big Brothers/Big Sisters Volunteer of the Year. Mr. Widoff has served on the National Board of Directors of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation of North America..... www.widoff-law.com