Rabbis for Human Rights is the rabbinic voice of conscience in Israel.

 

Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) was established with the purpose of giving voice to the Zionist ideal and the Jewish religious tradition of human rights. Since its inception in 1988, RHR has championed the cause of the poor in Israel, supported the rights of Israel’s minorities and Palestinians, worked to stop the abuse of foreign workers, endeavored to guarantee the upkeep of Israel’s public health care system, promoted the equal status of women, helped Ethiopian Jews, battled trafficking in women, and more.

RHR seeks to prevent human rights violations in Israel and in areas for which Israel has taken responsibility, and to bring specific human rights grievances to the attention of the Israeli public while pressuring the appropriate authorities for their redress.

Moreover, RHR endeavors to introduce into Israel’s public discourse an authentic and humanistic understanding of the Jewish tradition and sources. We give voice to the Jewish tradition’s concern for the stranger and others vulnerable within society, and are bound by a Jewish responsibility to defy silent complicity. While the increasingly dominant nationalistic and particularistic understanding of Judaism echoes loudly in Israeli society today, RHR reflects a Zionist commitment to the values of justice and equality, as expressed in Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

Rabbis for Human Rights is an important outlet for information on pressing human rights issues in Israel and the Middle East, and is frequently quoted in the Israeli and world media. As an organziation, we have no affiliation with any political party or ideology. We are the only Israeli rabbinical organization comprised of Reform, Orthodox, Conservative, Reconstructionist and Renewal rabbis and students. RHR’s members are Israeli citizens who are rabbis in national leadership positions, as well as educators and congregational rabbis capable of influencing change from the grass roots.

 

RHR has been endorsed by the Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist rabbinical organizations in North America, and by the Reform and Liberal rabbinical organizations in England.

RHR received in 1993 “The Speaker of the Knesset’s Award for the Quality of Life in the Field of Enhancing the Rule of Law and Democratic Values, Protecting Human Rights, and Encouraging Tolerance and Mutual Respect.” In 2006, RHR was awarded the prestigious Niwano Peace Prize for its efforts to promote peace in an interfaith context.