Territories Department
Protective presence for Palestinian farmers, assistance with access to land, and documentation of human rights violations.
Social Justice Department
Promoting social and economic rights, combating poverty and discrimination, and advancing equal opportunities.
Education Department
Designing and delivering educational programs on human rights, religious pluralism, and tolerance.
Interfaith Department
Dialogue and interfaith cooperation, development of joint initiatives, and the promotion of mutual understanding.
About the Organization
Rabbis for Human Rights is the Jewish voice on human rights.
Founded in 1988, it brings together more than 170 members – ordained rabbis and rabbinical students from across the denominations.
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Your donation enables us to continue advancing human rights in the spirit of Jewish tradition. Every gift, large or small, helps us to defend human rights and build a more just society.
Weekly Torah Portion
Repentance & Repair
Thoughts for International Human Rights Day / Lamma Mansour, Ph.D.
After two years of a brutal war, speaking about repentance and repair is both timely and fragile. Our faith traditions teach us that repentance is not only an individual, internal change of heart, but a collective shift and a movement towards repair, restoration, and reconciliation.
The Threefold Path to Transformation
Thoughts for Parashat Vayishlach
Parashat Vayishlach, along with the dramatic reunion of Jacob with Esau, presents us with a spiritual blueprint for navigating change and confrontation. In our Parsha, Jacob outlines a practical roadmap for genuine, lasting transformation—both personal and societal—rooted in a focus on Torah, Mitzvot, and Tefilah.
Before meeting with Esau, Jacob pauses, and begins with the crucial step of Limud (Study and Knowledge). Instead of acting on decades-old assumptions about his brother, he investigates Esau’s current disposition. From this we learn that profound change must be based upon intellectual clarity. Whether it is through the study of Torah or the intensive investigation of systemic injustice, effective tikkun (repair) demands that we first ask: What is the verifiable reality of the situation we face, and what is the knowledge required to meet it?
A New Contract
Thoughts for Parashat Vayetze / Yossi Elmackias, HUC-JIR IRP student
In Parashat Vayetze, we encounter the famous “Jacob’s Ladder” dream. Jacob wakes from his dream, and then:
“Jacob made a vow, saying: If God will be with me and guard me on this way that I am going, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, and I return in peace to my father’s house, then the Eternal shall be my God. And this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, shall be God’s house; and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.” (28:20–22)
Is our forefather Jacob, the righteous one, setting conditions for God?!