A discussion  of the connection between Israel, Human Rights and Judaism.Co-Sponsored by Congregation Shaarei Shamayim, J Street, and the First Unitarian Society Beginning in 1995, Rabbi Ascherman served as co-director of Rabbis for Human Rights, serving as executive director from 1998-2 . He currently is responsible for external relations and special projects. Rabbi Ascherman has several times stood trial for acts of civil disobedience. He has received numerous awards and recognitions for his human rights work, as has Rabbis for Human Rights. Founded in 1988, Rabbis for Human Rights is the only rabbinic voice in Israel that is explicitly dedicated to human rights.  Representing 100 Israeli rabbis and rabbinical students from different streams of Judaism, we derive our authority from our Jewish tradition and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.   Our mission is to inform the Israeli public about human rights violations, and to pressure the State institutions to redress these injustices.  In a time in which a nationalist and isolationist understanding of Jewish tradition is heard frequently and loudly, Rabbis for Human Rights give expression to the traditional Jewish responsibility for the safety and welfare of the stranger, the different and the weak, the convert, the widow and the orphan.