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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Weekly Torah Portion
From corrupting power to life-giving justice
Thoughts for Parashat Mishpatim / Rabbi Shoshana Cohen
This week’s parsha, Mishpatim lays the foundation of the biblical justice system. It presents a wide range of civil laws—from personal injury to property damage—designed to create a society that protects its members, particularly those who are vulnerable or wronged. Strikingly, many of these laws are directed not to victims, but to those who hold power. The regulations governing Hebrew slaves define the responsibilities of slave owners; laws of theft and damage hold property owners accountable for harm caused by their possessions. The underlying assumption appears to be that a just society is built by appealing directly to those with power and demanding that they limit it.
People of Valor – People of Truth
A Teaching for Parashat Yitro / Rabbi Prof. Yehoyada Amir
Parashat Yitro brings the story of God’s revelation to human society. Alongside it, in a manner inseparably interwoven, it confronts the human figure of Moses, leader of the people and prophet. These two dimensions are bound together from the very beginning. Already at the sight of the miracle of crossing the sea and the complete redemption from Egyptian slavery, the people’s enthusiastic response was: “And they believed in God and in Moses His servant” (Exodus 14:31). At the burning bush, Moses feared that the people would not believe him (Exodus 4:1).
Faith and The Saving Few
Thoughts for Parasht Beshallah / Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann
Faith grows not from witnessing miracles, but from education, choice, and continuing commitment. That is the message of the narrative in this week’s Torah reading — so teaches Yeshayahu Leibowitz in his Seven Years of Talks on the Weekly Torah Portion. He points to the people’s repeated demonstrations of lack of faith, despite the miracle at the Reed Sea, before the event and after the event, when faced with the existential threats of the approaching Egyptian chariots and of lack of water and food in the desert.