RHR-NA is thrilled to share the news that our advertisement in support of the work of RHR is on the Op-Ed. page of The New York Times on Wednesday, May 14, which is the date of the signing of Israel's Declaration of Independence on the Gregorian calendar. This advertisement marks the first time in RHR-NA's organizational history that our work has received the attention of so wide an audience. We are so very grateful to the donors who helped us to make this happen! Please share with your community and friends.

Download a pdf of the ad.

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!

Please join us December 7 - 9 in Washington, D.C. at Congregation Adas Israel, for the Second North American Conference on Judaism and Human Rights. This conference will be the first of its kind to bring together rabbis, cantors, rabbinic and cantorial students, and Jews committed to the protection of human rights in North America from across North America to discuss key questions facing our community:

Over 70 rabbis gathered on May 8th in New York to celebrate Yom Ha'atzmaut and the launching of the Planting Justice: Two Trees initiative. Rabbi Simkha Weintraub and singer-songwriter Debbie Friedman led the crowd in a special mincha for Yom HaAtzma'ut and Rabbi Gordon Tucker taught from RHR's Masekhet Ha'Atzmaut. View pictures of the event and read more about it.

Rabbis for Human Rights Executive Director Rabbi Arik Ascherman arrived in the U.S. from Israel on Friday, May 9 and will be speaking and teaching across the continent in the next two weeks. We've published his schedule below so you will be able to attend an event in your area.

RHR is marking Israel's 60th anniversary with a new action: Planting Justice: Two Trees Initiative. Funds raised through this initiative will be used to plant trees in impoverished neighborhoods in Israel and in the West Bank. Download the flyer that you can reproduce and distribute. Make a secure donation online.

Join Rabbis Brian Walt and Tirzah Firestone for an unprecedented, hands-on trip to Israel and the West Bank. You CAN make a difference!

Take a public stand against torture! RHR-NA and K'vod Habriot have joined with the National Religious Campaign Agains Torture (NRCAT) to bring the anti-torture message to congregations across the country. Order a Stop Torture banner from RHR-NA to hang in your community!

June is Torture Awareness Month and our goal is to have 25 Jewish communities display the banner in June and beyond to show our leaders that the Jewish community is speaking out against U.S.-sponsored torture.

Bring in an RHR Speaker

From May 9-22, immediately after Yom Haatzmaut, Israel Independence Day, Rabbi Arik Ascherman will be visiting the United States on a speaking tour. In November, Rabbi David Forman has generously offered to speak at a limited number of fundraising events on behalf of Rabbis for Human Rights.

Study with RHR

Join Israeli communities in studying Masekhet Haatzmaut, a Talmudic style commentary on Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

Rabbis for Human Rights is creating a series of texts for teaching about Judaism and Human Rights. In conjuction with International Human Rights Day (December 10), our Assistant Director of Education, Rachel Kahn-Troster -- who incidentally is celebrating the birth of a baby girl -- has created Masechet Zechuyot Ha'Adam/The Human Rights Tractate, a study text matching elements of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to Jewish sources.