---
title: 'Rabbinical Assembly'
canonical: 'https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/stories/rabbinical-assembly'
section: stories
date: '2007-01-09T16:30:00-05:00'
updated: '2024-09-25T16:52:46-04:00'
source: 'Death Penalty Information Center'
---

Resolution on Capital Punishment
--------------------------------

Whereas, the Torah teaches that all human beings are created in God's image;

Whereas, Jewish tradition upholds the sanctity of life;

Whereas, both in concept and practice Rabbinic leaders in many different historical periods have found capital punishment repugnant;

Whereas, no evidence has been marshalled to indicate with any persuasiveness that capital punishment serves as a deterrent to crime;

Whereas, legal studies have shown that as many as 300 people in this century have been wrongly convicted of capital crimes;

Therefore, be it resolved that The Rabbinical Assembly oppose the adoption of death penalty laws and urge their abolition in states that have already adopted them;

That the Rabbinical Assembly urge the enactment of laws that mandate that some capital crimes be punishable by life imprisonment without parole;

That the Rabbinical Assembly offer support and speak out on behalf of the victims of violent crime and their families;

That the Rabbinical Assembly encourage its members to send this resolution to their appropriate elected officials.

\*referred from 1995 Convention Plenum

**The Rabbinical Assembly**

**3080 Broadway**

**New York, NY 10027**

**(212) 280-6000**

**http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org**