Whereas our Torah asserts that all humanity is created b’tzelem Elohim, in God’s Divine Image and
Whereas rabbinic tradition strongly emphasizes the importance of kavod habriyot (human dignity) and a 2006 teshuva of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards cites this principal to annul the rabbinic prohibitions relating to homosexuality and
Background:
We, members of the Rabbinical Assembly, are heirs to traditions that ingrain in us an “aggressive attitude toward improving life,” exemplified in Pirkei Avot 2:20-1 “Rabbi Tarfon taught: The day is short, the task is great. You are not obliged to finish the task, but neither are you free to neglect it.”* Over the years the Rabbinical Assembly has adopted stances via resolutions passed at annual conventions on a wide variety of social issues.
Whereas the most treasured values of Americans as enshrined in the laws and Constitution of the United States are under attack;
Whereas among the most revered of these is America’s regard for civil rights and civil liberties;
Whereas Jewish tradition teaches of one’s obligation to defend oneself against those who have and/or will attack;
Whereas Jewish tradition supports the establishment of a basic normative order and governance that ensures peace and security for the citizens of all lands as exemplified by the instructions of Moses to Jethro in Exodus 18;
Preamble:
“Great is human dignity, since it overrides a negative precept of the Torah.” (Brakhot 19b)
In 1990, the Rabbinical Assembly passed a resolution entitled “Gay and Lesbian Jews,” which called us to:
