Our Vision

Rabbis for Human Rights is the voice of Jewish tradition in the field of human rights. The organization was founded in 1988 (5749) and today has over 170 members—ordained rabbis, rabbinical students, and rabbinic leaders.

The organization is non-partisan and uniquely activist, bringing together rabbis from across all denominations and rabbinical schools in Israel. Among its members are rabbis in public roles, educators, and community rabbis, who are able to generate both grassroots and conceptual change.

The organization serves as a tool to disseminate information about human rights in Israel and in the occupied territories, working in cooperation with human rights organizations in Israel and abroad. From its founding, it has acted to promote the rights of vulnerable groups in society, to protect the rights of minorities in Israel as well as Palestinians in the territories, and to prevent blatant violations of the basic rights of migrant workers. The organization puts pressure on policymakers in Israel to ensure the safeguarding of human rights, including the right to healthcare, shelter, education, and a minimal standard of living.

Since its establishment, thousands of volunteers have taken part in hundreds of justice-oriented initiatives across the state and society.

The organization’s work reflects its members’ conviction that as Jews we are obligated to protest any injustice inflicted on any human being, and to prevent it wherever possible—a conviction rooted in the belief that every person is created in the image of God. We believe we are duty-bound to make the Israeli public aware of every human rights violation, and that our role is to pressure state institutions to rectify such injustices.

Our authority is drawn from two primary sources: Jewish humanistic tradition and international human rights conventions. Alongside efforts to prevent rights violations, Rabbis for Human Rights brings an original, humanistic interpretation of Jewish texts into Israeli public discourse. At a time when nationalist, violent, and separatist readings of Jewish tradition are prominent, we give expression to Judaism’s traditional responsibility for the well-being of the stranger, the different, and the vulnerable—the stranger, the widow, and the orphan.

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Awards & Recognition

1993
Speaker of the Knesset Award
For our contribution to promoting the rule of law, democratic values, human rights, tolerance, mutual respect, and good neighborliness.
1996
Niwano Peace Prize (Japan)
2009
Yeshayahu Leibowitz Award
2011
Gandhi Peace Award

Awards and recognition

Rabbi Ruti Bidatz
Chair of the Board

Chair of the Board of Rabbis for Human Rights since 2022. Resident of Yavne’el, mother of three. Teaches Jewish thought at Beit Yerach High School by the Sea of Galilee. Holds an M.A. in Cultural Studies from the Hebrew University and was ordained as a secular-humanist rabbi at Tmura – Israeli Judaism. Active in the ShIChA community (Supporters of Secular Humanist Judaism) in Yavne’el, and Chair of MarChav—the Council of Secular Rabbis in Israel. Leads study programs for diverse audiences—youth, pre-army programs, adults—as well as teacher trainings across religious traditions, focusing on interfaith learning.

Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavi
Board Member

Social activist and storyteller, writer and community leader, Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie is the Co-Founding Spiritual Leader of the Lab/Shul community in NYC and the creator of the ritual theater company Storahtelling, Inc. Israeli born, he’s been living in New York since 1998. He received his rabbinical ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 2016, the 39th generation of rabbis in his family — the first one to be openly queer. Rabbi Amichai is the star of Sabbath Queen, Sandi DuBowski’s award-winning documentary film, 21 years in the making, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in June 2024.

Rabbi Orit Rosenblit
Board Member
Born and raised in Kibbutz Dvorat as the fourth child of its founders, Orit grew up in the kibbutz educational system. She holds a teaching certificate in Jewish Thought and Literature from Oranim, and an M.A. in Oral Torah from the University of Haifa. Orit facilitates diverse learning groups (beit midrash settings), and also leads ceremonies—particularly weddings, holiday services, and Shabbat prayers. In 2000 she and her family settled in Metula. For nearly a decade she led an independent beit midrash for young adults in Haifa, which eventually brought her to rabbinical studies at H.U.C. Since 2018, she has led a mixed, regional traditional community in Kiryat Shmona, which she co-founded with local residents. Orit is married to Nitzan, mother of a daughter and three grown sons, and grandmother of six.
Rabbi Dani Danieli
Board Member
A secular-humanist rabbi, organizational consultant, and mentor for managers. Formerly founding director and deputy CEO of Beit Avi Chai, a Jewish–Israeli cultural center in Jerusalem. His career has centered on Jewish culture and identity initiatives. He co-founded “Tzav Piyus,” an educational dialogue program for secular and religious pre-army academies. An activist for human rights and for those leaving ultra-Orthodoxy. Married to Liora, father of three, and grandfather of five.
Rabbi Lena Zilberman
Board Member

Married to Daniel and mother to Talya Doron (11), Shalev (9), and Yahel (6).Rabbi, educator, tour guide, activist, and peace seeker. Lana is a graduate of two rabbinical seminaries – Israeli Rabbinical Program of the Shalom Hartman Institute and the HaMidrasha in Oranim – as well as a graduate of Hebrew Union College (HUC). Between 2023-2025, she served as the rabbi and educational director of Congregation Or Ami in Los Angeles. Prior to moving to the United States, she was the head of the rabbinical network and educational projects at Rabbis for Human Rights, where she currently continues to serve on the board of directors. Lana’s professional work is diverse and includes spiritual counseling, officiating life cycle ceremonies, teaching, leading unique educational journeys in Israel and abroad, formal and informal education, interfaith initiatives, and advocacy for peace and human rights.

Rabbi David Goodman
Board Member
Rabbi of Kehillat Moreshet Avraham (the Masorti community of East Talpiot, Jerusalem), which he leads jointly with his wife, Rabbi Amirit Rozen. Involved in Jerusalem-based cultural initiatives and interfaith dialogue projects that promote respect between religions and peoples. His studies focus on 21st-century theological transformations and the impact of 20th-century French philosophy on these changes. He studied in a wide range of yeshivot, including the Hartman Institute Beit Midrash, Yeshivat Otniel, and Beit Midrash Har’el, where he received ordination in 2019. David was trained in interfaith dialogue through the KAICIID International Fellows Program. David and Amirit are parents to two daughters, Orut and Kedem.
Rabbi Noa Mazor
Board Member
Ordained in 2016. Her first rabbinic role was directing the Interreligious Department of Rabbis for Human Rights. Noa is an educator and activist working to shift social perceptions, believing in building relationships and bridges across streams, ethnicities, and religions. She holds a B.A. from Tel Aviv University’s Ofakim program for Jewish Studies as Culture, and an M.A. in Pluralistic Jewish Education from Hebrew University and Hebrew Union College.
Rabbi Michael Marmur
Board Member

Rabbi Michael Marmur is Professor of Jewish Theology at the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem. He previously served as Dean of the Jerusalem campus and later Provost of the College. He is a former Chair of RHR. His new book is Living the Letters: An Alphabet of Emerging Jewish Thought, published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Staff

Rabbi Avi Dabush
Executive Director
Adv. Becky Cohen Keshet
Director, Social Justice Department
Rabbi Sigal Asher
Director, Rights Center
Anton Goodman
Director of Partnerships
Rabbi Dana Sharon
Coordinator, Rabbis & Communities
Rabbi Kobi Weiss
Director, Education Department
Adam Rabia
Director, Territories Department
Emad Zuabi
Arabic Rights Coordinator
Mira Zilberman
Office Manager
Ezra Bernstein
Resource Development & Compliance Officer
Jacob Lazarus
Communications Coordinator
Yakir Renbaum
Director, Interreligious Department
Yael Moav
Volunteer Coordinator
Kamar Sawaed
Attorney and researcher in the Social Justice department
Ittai Dayagi
Organizational Information Coordinator
Samir Awad
Protective Agricultural Presence Coordinator
Khaled Elzaari
Field Coordinator, Bethlehem area
Liron Asdo
Attorney, Rights Advocacy Coordinator in Kiryat ShmonaRetry

Contact Information

Rabbis for Human Rights

NGO Registration No. 580151967

Office Phone: 02-6482757 | Fax: 02-6783611 | Email: office@rhr.org.il

 

Rabbis for Human Rights has been a registered NGO since 1990. We fully comply with legal and administrative requirements, as per the Associations Law and the Registrar of Associations. The organization holds a “Proper Management” certificate, and all organizational details, donor names, and full financial reports are publicly available on the Guidestar website.

📄 View our annual report [here].