Resolutions 2005

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 President Bush and the United States of America have undertaken the furthering of freedom and democracy around the world; and

WHEREAS we support the troops and coalition forces who are in harm’s way to achieve this end; and

WHEREAS Jewish history and tradition teach that justice must triumph over violence; and

WHEREAS serious questions have been raised about the ethics of torture by any nation as a means of gaining information, even under emergency circumstances;