Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) was established with the purpose of giving voice to the Zionist ideal and the Jewish religious tradition of human rights. Since its inception in 1988, RHR has championed the cause of the poor in Israel, supported the rights of Israels minorities and Palestinians, worked to stop the abuse of foreign workers, endeavored to guarantee the upkeep of Israels public health care system, promoted the equal status of women, helped Ethiopian Jews, battled trafficking in women, and more.
RHR seeks to prevent human rights violations in Israel and in areas for which Israel has taken responsibility, and to bring specific human rights grievances to the attention of the Israeli public while pressuring the appropriate authorities for their redress.
Moreover, RHR endeavors to introduce into Israels public discourse an authentic and humanistic understanding of the Jewish tradition and sources. We give voice to the Jewish traditions concern for the stranger and others vulnerable within society, and are bound by a Jewish responsibility to defy silent complicity. While the increasingly dominant nationalistic and particularistic understanding of Judaism echoes loudly in Israeli society today, RHR reflects a Zionist commitment to the values of justice and equality, as expressed in Israels Declaration of Independence.