Reconstructionist Rabbinical
Association Statement on the Death Penalty
The Reconstructionist Rabbinical
Association just completed voting to adopt a position for abolition
The Reconstructionist Jews are the fourth largest Jewish grouping
in the country. Approved April 2003
Whereas the Jewish scriptural tradition teaches that all human beings
are created B'tzelem Elohim (in the image of God) and upholds the
sanctity of all life;
Whereas both in concept and in practice, Jewish leaders throughout
over the past 2000 plus years have refused, with rare exception, to
punish criminals by depriving them of their lives;
And whereas current evidence and technological advances have shown
that as many as three hundred people (disproportionately from minority
and poor populations) have been wrongly convicted of capital crimes
in America in the last century, which underscores the Jewish concern
over capital punishment since all human systems of justice are inherently
fallible and imperfect --
Therefore, we resolve that the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association
go on record opposing the death penalty under all circumstances, opposing
the adoption of death penalty laws, and urging their abolition in
states that already have adopted them.
Furthermore, recognizing the very real horrors inflicted on victims
of violent crime by individual criminals, some of whom for reasons
of circumstance or biology will never be able to safely interact in
the public arena, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association urges
the enactment of laws that mandate that some crimes be punishable
by life imprisonment without parole.
In implementing the content of this resolution, the RRA agrees to:
A) Forward copies of this statement, on RRA letterhead, to appropriate
federal and state officials;
B) Join the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty as a national
affiliate organization (pending their approval);
C) Forward copies of this statement to our partner institutions and
member communities in the Reconstructionist movement, urging the adoption
of a similar stance in those settings as well; and
D) Recommend that our members and their communities become educated
on this issue, expressing an opinion to elected officials where appropriate.
