Mission: T'ruah brings together rabbis and cantors from all streams of judaism, together with all members of the jewish community, to act on the jewish imperative to respect and advance the human rights of all people. Grounded in torah and our jewish historical experience and guided by the universal declaration of human rights, we call upon jews to assert jewish values by raising our voices and taking concrete steps to protect and expand human rights in north america, israel, and the occupied palestinian territories.
Programs: T'ruah engages in three strategies in our work:- engage rabbis and jewish community members in specific campaigns in which we can have an impact on human rights practices in north america and israel. - train and support rabbinical students and rabbis to be human rights leaders in their own communities. - promote the public voice of rabbis and jewish communities as human rights leaders. Programs include mobilizing rabbis and their communities to work for concrete change on issues including slavery and trafficking in the u. S. Labor system, mass incarceration in america, and human rights in israel, including ending the occupation; training rabbinical students to be human rights leaders through a year-long program for students studying in israel, and a full-time summer program in new york; training rabbis to be human rights leaders through convenings, trainings, and one-on-one support; producing jewish educational materials on human rights; creating prayers, rituals, and weekly torah commentaries; and amplifying the voice of rabbis as human rights leaders through op-eds, public statements, and public testimony.
I traveled to Israel with RHR a couple of times, to volunteer in their planting of trees on both sides of the green line as well as to witness for myself what is happening there.I was educated by great leaders as well as parents who have lost children, mothers who stand up for justice, and many others who desire peace. RHR makes me feel proud to be Jewish because I know our highest principles are being upheld, and feel inspired to act for peace and justice.