Harvey Freedenberg is a lifelong resident of Harrisburg and graduated from Dickinson College in 1973. He returned to Central Pennsylvania in 1976, after graduating from the University of Michigan Law School and practiced with the firm of McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC as a litigator for 41 years before retiring in December 2017. Harvey has been active in the Harrisburg Jewish community for many years, including serving as chair of the JCRC in the 1980s and ‘90s and as Federation President/Chair from 1995-97 and again in 2016-17 (Interim).
He is a member of Beth El Temple (Conservative), where he served on the board and as chair of the Worship Committee. His political activity includes volunteer work on many campaigns for Democratic candidates, going back to the 1968 presidential campaign. His own political career ended in 1985 when he ran unsuccessfully for township commissioner, losing by 12 votes in what was then a heavily Republican ward.
Harvey and his wife Linda have been married for 48 years and have two children and four grandsons who live in Baltimore (Lutherville) and Garnet Valley, PA. In his retirement, he works as a freelance book reviewer and writer. If you are interested in reading some of his reviews, you can find them here: bookmarks.reviews/reviewer/harvey-freedenberg/. He is on Twitter at @HarvF and BlueSky at @harvf.bsky.social. He is also on Facebook under his real name.