Observe Torture Awareness Month in Your Community: Banners, Prayers, and Educational Resources available from RHR-NA

June 26th is United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Religious and human rights organizations in the United States declared the month of June to be Torture Awareness Month as a way to provide greater visibility of this issue and to provide an opportunity for coordinated actions across the country.

Hang a Stop Torture banner in your community Pray for an end to U.S.-sponsored torture

Study about torture and Jewish values, including our exciting new curriculum

Show a film and take action!

We are asking Jewish communities to find a way to mark Torture Awareness Month through study, action, and prayer. There are many ways you can participate, engaging with questions of U.S.-sponsored torture in many different venues. Ask these questions as a congregation: Are you comfortable taking a public stand against torture? What, as a community, are you afraid of? How do we speak about torture to our children? Does the torture of others do us spiritual damage? How can we recommit ourselves to this critical work? What does it mean to pray for an end to torture? What can we really do to bring about a solution? These are tough questions, but we cannot shy away from trying to answer them. During Torture Awareness Month, 2008, we must engage.

Take Action: Order a Stop Torture banner

Take a public stand against torture! By hanging an Honor the Image of God: Stop Torture Now banner in your community, you will join congregations of all faiths in all fifty states raising their voices as concerned citizens. A Stop Torture banner will generate critical discussion within your community, sparking dialogue about what Judaism has to say about torture and what we stand for as Jews and as citizens. What does it mean to be created in the image of God? How does the Jewish experience of torture affect our reaction to recent events? Are we willing to take a public stand against torture in our sanctuaries?

Prices and ordering information.

Seeing the banner will also help you to identify who in your congregation is committed to organizing around the intersection of Judaism and human rights, and who is interested in advocacy related to the fight against U.S.-sponsored torture.

Has your community already put up a banner? Read on for more information.

Observe Torture Awareness Month during services

Every human being is created in the image of God. The work we do to end torture has a deep spiritual resonance, as we connect with the pain and suffering of every individual whose humanity is denied. As Jews, we know too well what it means to be tortured and oppressed, and we pray that we will soon see a day when no person suffers at the hands of another. RHR-NA has compiled some beautiful liturgies to be used in your congregation during services:

Are you showing a film or having a speaker? Consider the following brief liturgy of readings and reflections, which can also be interspersed into Friday night or Saturday morning davenning.

During the prayer Hashkivenu, we ask God to shelter us and protect us. The following Hashkivenu is adapted to remember all those who suffer from torture and abuse.

Say a misheberach for victims of torture during the Torah reading.

Looking to connect as an individual with anti-torture work on a deeper, more spiritual level? Contemplate this mussar practice for Torture Awareness Month.

The interfaith effort—Join communities across the country in prayer!
RHR-NA is collaborating with the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) to encourage faith communities to incorporate a “Prayer of Recommitment” into services during the weekend of June 6-8, over Shavuot (June 9-10) and throughout June. After President Bush's veto of the Intelligence Authorization Act, and with the critical 2008 Presidential elections approaching, now is the time to recommit as activists to ending U.S.-sponsored torture and harsh treatment of detainees, and to demand fair trials for the prisoners held in Guantanamo. Learn more!

Learn about Jewish values, torture, and human rights

Before we can act, we must understand the problem of torture and the Jewish response. During the month of June, commit to educating yourself and your community. You might even find time during the traditional night of study on Shavuot.

Be among the first to use Rabbi Ed Feld's amazing new curriculum on the intersection of Judaism and human rights. This three-part text study focuses on rabbinic texts related to the important of human dignity (k'vod habriot), the limits of self defense, and the role of the judicial process.

Because of its graphic and brutal nature, torture is a difficult issue to discuss with our children, even if we want to find a way to include them in this critical community conversation. We may not want to show them the violent images that have been in the press. RHR-NA has a curriculum designed for Hebrew School students too young to view films such as "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib" that focuses on Jewish values and the importance of seeing every human being as created in the image of God.

Want to engage in soul searching as a community? What do people really think about enhanced interrogation and other techniques? If Jack Bauer does it on 24, can our soldiers? Hold a discussion to clarify your position on torture.

Since the beginning of the Jewish Campaign Against Tortre, RHR-NA is proud to have developed a core collection of resource materials on Jewish values and torture. Please contact us if you would like to discuss how best to adapt these for your community.

Hold a Torture Awareness Month Event

Show a film
In the past two years, there have been a number of good films about U.S.-sponsored torture of detainees. Showing a film is an easy way to generate discussion and gear people for action. A film about victims of torture can put a human face on a problem that can seem very distant. The RHR-NA film discussion guide can help you prepare to bring one of these films to your congregation.

One film we recommend is “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib,” Rory Kennedy's documentary for HBO, which is currently available on DVD (a limited number are available through NRCAT). "Ghosts" contains first-person interviews with both the victims of torture at Abu Ghraib and the soldiers who abused them, and looks at the events which led up to the taking of the infamous torture photographs.

A more recent film is “Taxi to the Dark Side,” which won the 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary. “Taxi” tells the story of an Afghani cab driver who died in U.S. custody. It is not yet available on DVD, but is still being shown in some locations around the country.

“Breaking the Silence: Torture Survivors Speak Out” is a film produced by the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International (TASSC) and features interviews with torture survivors from around the world. It is available from TASSC directly for $25. There is a curriculum available from TASSC that includes a fantastic FAQ about torture.

Finally, “Standard Operating Procedure” was released into theaters in late April. Directed by award-winning director Errol Morris, this film is similar to “Ghosts” in its focus on Iraq, and contains extensive interviews with the soldiers who served at the Abu Ghraib prison. It has an intense focus on the pictures taken by the soldiers: what did it mean to take them and what do we see in them? There is a book being released to complement the film, which might be especially critical in communities where the film is not released. Please note that this film contains graphic images and is not suitable for children.

Take Action

With the 2008 election rapidly approaching, it is critical that the issue of torture remain on the national agenda. Now is the time that we must ask our candidates for national office to clarify their stands on torture. After your Torture Awareness Month event, commit as a community to call your local candidates for Senate and Congress. Ask them to clarify their positions on torture. Sample language is available for you to use when you call. Be sure to update us as to their response!

Watch David Gushee of Evangelicals for Human Rights ask about torture during CNN's Compassion Forum.

The fight to end U.S.-sponsored torture is part of an ongoing effort on the part of RHR-NA to engage the Jewish community on the issue of human rights. The core Jewish value of K'vod Habriot, respect for all life, underscores our efforts to ensure that the dignity of every single person is upheld. There is much in common between Jewish values and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was itself a reaction to the destruction of the Holocaust. K'vod Habriot: A Jewish Human Rights Network is a groundbreaking, interdenominational network of Jewish human rights activists. The Jewish Campaign Against Torture is continuing its important work through K'vod Habriot. Learn more, or sign up as an individual or as a community.

Other steps you can take in June:

Sign the Jewish Statement Against Torture or the Rabbinic Letter Against Torture if you have not already done so.

Sign NRCAT's interfaith statement "Torture is a Moral Issue" and have your congregation sign up as an endorsing member of NRCAT.

As Jews, we now continue to pursue justice and honor the image of God in every person. We commit ourselves to the struggle to heal the soul of our nation and to heal the wounds inflicted on those who have been tortured. Torture is a moral issue, and we will not be silent. This June, we commit ourselves to observing Torture Awareness Month.

Contact RHR-NA for more information.