In 1910, he was elected the first Gilchrist Scholar in Arabic and spent the next year studying in Egypt under the auspices of the university.
[4] Halper immigrated to America in 1911, at which point Solomon Schechter had him classify and copy the Cairo Geniza fragments in the Jewish Theological Seminary Library.
Two months later, he revealed a previously overlooked lost work: three quarters of Sefer Ha-Mitzvot (Book of Precepts) by Hefes ben Yasliah in Arabic, which he then translated into Hebrew in June 1913.
He received a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Dropsie in 1914, at which point he became an Instructor and then an Associate Professor as well as Custodian of Manuscripts.
Rabbi Leon H. Elmaleh of Congregation Mikveh Israel officiated his funeral service at Dropsie College.