Stop Torture

Study former RHR-NA Education Director Rabbi Melissa Weintraub's rich articles which ground RHR-NA's anti-terror work in Jewish sources:

1. The bar against self-incrimination as a protection against torture in Jewish and American Law
2. Kvod Ha-Briot: Human Dignity in Jewish Sources, Human Degradation in American Military Custody
3. But does torture save lives? The rodef and the "Ticking Time Bomb"
4. Heart of a Stranger: The Jewish Historical Memory of Torture

The following 3-part curriculum was written by Rabbi Ed Feld. It looks at 3 aspects the intersection of Jewish texts and human rights: The importance of human dignity (k'vod habriot), the limits of self-defense, and the role of the judicial process.

MUSSAR PRACTICE FOR TORTURE AWARENESS MONTH

May 5, 2008

To: Contacts for congregations participating in the Banners Across America project

First, we want to thank you and your congregation for participating in this exciting project.  You are helping to create a very visible, nationwide religious witness against US-sponsored torture.

In this message, we will give you an update on our outreach efforts and tell you about other aspects of this project you can look for in the coming weeks.

Join together with communities across the country in observing Torture Awareness Month in June! Hang a Stop Torture banner, raise your voice with words of prayer, study about the Jewish tradition and human rights, plan an event, and take action! RHR-NA has fantastic resources available for your congregation! Show your solidarity with victims of torture around the world and pledge as a community to stop torture now!

Discussion Guide for seeing a film about torture (“Ghosts of Abu Ghraib,” “Standard Operating Procedure,” etc)

Over the past few years, filmmakers have been drawn to the stories of those who have been caught up in the war against terror. These stories, augmented with pictures taken by American troops and first person interviews with both torturers and victims, serve as a powerful narrative about the effect that abuse and mistreatment have on both perpetrator and victim. Their words are in dialogue with an official narrative that tells us that the U.S. does not torture, that the innocent are not affected by American tactics, and that “enhanced interrogation” is an effective way to keep us safer. It is important to hear these stories and see these pictures.

The attached PDF contains a resource booklet to help rabbis and communities discuss the intersection of Jewish values and the torture questions. It includes the shorter versions of Rabbi Melissa Weintraub's articles on torture and Jewish law, liturgical material, and study questions.

The following brochure contains the basic information about the Jewish Campaign Against Torture, including background information and ways to get involved.

While the words of the liturgy serve to remind us of themes that are part of our consciousness, the sound of the shofar opens different layers of meaning.  When we say the words, “We have sinned,”  we remember those acts which prompt our regret, we remember the people we have hurt, the paths we should have taken, the anger we carry with us that causes us to act in ways which border on violence, the fears that don’t allow us to be who we know we need to be.

But the cry of the shofar enters the non-verbal reaches of our souls and demands a reawakening.   It calls us to reencounter what we long ago repressed, long ago forgot about.  It has the power to turn our attention to those parts of ourselves that have been silenced.  While we live our lives routinely – our routines after all are the way we can order the business that needs to get done in a day – the shofar breaks through our every day patterns and calls us to think anew about who we are and where we are going.  It can bring to the foreground questions about ourselves that we have avoided, that we have silenced, for too long.

Torture has gotten this administration in trouble again. Because of the use of torture the military trials at Guantanamo may never take place.

Salim Hamdan, who evidently was a driver for Osama Ben Ladin is the first to be tried before the new military commissions on Guantanamo. The administration admits that he was tortured while in detention. The judge in the case, Captain Keith J. Allred has ruled that the General supervising the courts Thomas W. Hartmann has acted improperly and ordered that General Hartmann cease involvement with any Guantanamo prosecutions.