Celebrate the High Holidays and human rights with RHR-NA! Resources available for download

Every year, during the Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe), we look over our year and decide how we can make changes for the year ahead. We recommit ourselves to the values we hold dear, examine where we fell short, and pledge to do better. Each day, we take a step towards a fresh start. As we celebrate the birth of the world, we ask ourselves what we want our world to look like, and how we can repair broken relationships and obligations. It is a time for optimism. We know we can do better in the year ahead.

This year, our country faces such a potential new start. No matter who wins the November election, we need to work as a country to restore our commitment to human rights. We have a chance to move forward and to change. This is a lofty goal, but there are concrete steps we can take. As a nation, we must do teshuvah, and begin again.

Rabbis for Human Rights North America and K'vod Habriot: A Jewish Human Rights Network want you to recommit to human rights this year. Commit to mentioning torture from the bima in your congregation. Commit to asking others to join you in K'vod Habriot. Commit to asking our president to sign an executive order against torture. Want 10 steps you can take, one for each day of Aseret Yemay Teshuvah (the Ten Days of Repentance)? Download our handout, Renewing Our Commitment to Human Rights During the Aseret Yemay Teshuvah, and distribute it in your community on the High Holidays!

This is also a year to celebrate 60 years of an international commitment to human rights and human dignity! While there is still so much to be achieved, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights set a standard for common goals and shared dreams among all people for peace, justice, and freedom. Celebrate human rights with your friends and family with our home ritual for candle lighting and challah!

This year is also Israel's 60th birthday, a time for celebration, reflection, and a renewal of commitment to action. Rabbi Ellen Lippman has written a beautiful sermon about taking her congregation to Israel this summer. Read her inspiring words and share them with your community.

We also encourage you to read and be inspired by one of our many High Holidays resources.

Sign up for K'vod Habriot: A Jewish Human Rights Network.

Celebrate Human Rights Shabbat in your community!

Are you recommiting to human rights or speaking out against torture in your community? Let us know!