In his May 19 “Shabbat Shalom” newsletter, Alliance President and CEO Jeffrey Savit proclaimed May 22 to be “Rhode Island Jewish Community Employee Appreciation Day.” He called for expressing “our thanks to the countless professionals who selflessly work at our Jewish agencies, organizations and synagogues across greater Rhode Island.”
In that spirit, we express our appreciation for Marty Cooper, longtime director of the Alliance’s Community Relations Council (CRC), the Jewish community’s outreach, public policy and advocacy arm. After serving the Alliance for more than 10 years, Marty departed his position on Feb. 21.
Marty carried out much of the Alliance’s work of tikkun olam, advocating on Israel and social justice issues. He was the public face of the Alliance to the Rhode Island interfaith community, the State House, the Rhode Island congressional delegation, local universities, the Israeli consulate in Boston, the Jewish Federations’ General Assembly and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. Well-known in the Rhode Island policy and interfaith communities, Marty had many friends and colleagues both in the Jewish community and beyond.
Marty worked tirelessly on behalf of the Jewish community and never ceased trying to find common ground among constituencies with often differing views. We are grateful for the thoughtfulness, intelligence, expertise, respect and decency that he brought to his position. He has left big shoes to fill. We will miss him at the Alliance.
Sincerely,
Nina Tannenwald
Reverend Don Anderson
Imam Farid Ansari
Ruti Ben-Artzi
Jay Burdick
Deb DeBare
Rabbi Wayne Franklin
Rabbi Jeffrey Goldwasser
Ellen Goodman
Judy Kaye
Nancy Kirsch
Rabbi Dr. Marc Mandel
Ann Moskol
Tom Padwa
Rabbi James Rosenberg
Barry Schiller
Susan Sklar
Ezra Steiglitz
Richard H. Tropper
James Vincent