Please RSVP for the kiddush luncheon following services.
As we approach International Human Rights Day, we are mindful of the many places where fundamental rights have been threatened or denied. This year calls us to stand up for human dignity with renewed clarity and commitment.
Each December, Temple Hillel B’nai Torah marks the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations in 1948 and championed by Eleanor Roosevelt. We honor this moment with a participatory public reading of all 30 Articles, a cherished tradition that has become our “prophetic Haftarah” for Human Rights Shabbat.
This Year’s Focus: The Right to Health
We are centering one essential human right: the Right to Health, including access to affordable and equitable care. This right is under serious threat in the United States and around the world, making it an urgent moral and spiritual focus for our community.
At our Shabbat services, as our special Words of Torah/Divrei Torah, Susannah Sirkin, longtime former policy director at Physicians for Human Rights, will share a global framework of the right to health and the ways it has recently come under severe attack globally.
We’ll be privileged to hear a D’var/Commentary from Brian Rosman, a leader in health policy in Massachusetts and beyond, who will share his assessment of the current challenges to health care in the United States
Brian Rosman recently retired from 35 years of leadership in Massachusetts health policy, where he played key roles in the organization Health Care For All and the state legislature. He was instrumental in the drafting and passage of a number of state health policies, including the landmark 2006 Massachusetts health reform law, which became the model for the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
Join Us
Please join us for Human Rights Shabbat on December 13, from 10am to 12:30pm, followed by kiddush. Members of the Tikkun Olam Committee will lead related advocacy opportunities, and Rabbi Aliza will help us explore elements of our liturgy that speak to human dignity, justice, and action.
Your RSVP for the Kiddish lunch is appreciated!