T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights is proud to be the first Jewish organization to join ATEST, The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking.
“T’ruah is thrilled to be invited to be a member of ATEST, our nation’s premier coalition dedicated to supporting those vulnerable to trafficking,” said T’ruah Deputy Director Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster. “We are especially excited to be ATEST’s first member directly representing the Jewish community, and we’re looking forward to bringing the moral voices of our network of more than 2,000 rabbis and cantors to supporting critically needed federal legislation to prevent forced labor and support social services for survivors.”
T’ruah is the third organization to join ATEST in 2018, bringing the coalition to 12 members.
Since 2009, T’ruah has been the leading Jewish organization fighting labor trafficking, and it is motivated by our belief that all human beings are created in the image of God, and the Jewish people’s own history of slavery and redemption, a history commemorated each year during Passover.
“It’s vital that faith-based organizations are part of anti-slavery movement,” noted ATEST Steering committee Co-Chair Terry FitzPatrick. “T’ruah will bring specialized policy expertise to our collation and will contribute an additional dimension of moral authority and public reach to ATEST’s engagement with policymakers and the public.”
The Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) is a U.S. based coalition that advocates for solutions to prevent and end all forms of human trafficking and modern slavery around the world.
- In addition to participating in the work of ATEST, T’ruah’s work on Slavery and Trafficking includes:
Partnering with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to expand the Fair Food Program, the most effective slavery prevention program in U.S. agriculture. - Supporting federal legislation to help survivors of trafficking.
- Training more than 70 rabbis in New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC to engage their communities in addressing slavery and trafficking locally.
- Partnering with Equal Exchange and Divine Chocolate, to encourage Jewish communities to purchase kosher Fair Trade Chanukah gelt, kosher-for-Passover chocolate, coffee, and other products.
ATEST is comprised of the following organizations: Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking (CAST), Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), Free the Slaves, Human Trafficking Institute, National Network for Youth (NN4Y), Polaris, Safe Horizon, Solidarity Center, T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, United Way Worldwide, Verité, and Vital Voices Global Partnership.
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights mobilizes a network of more than 2,000 rabbis and cantors from all streams of Judaism that, together with the Jewish community, act on the Jewish imperative to respect and advance the human rights of all people. Grounded in Torah and our Jewish historical experience and guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we call upon Jews to assert Jewish values by raising our voices and taking concrete steps to protect and expand human rights in North America, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.
To learn more or to speak with T’ruah Deputy Director Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, contact Julie Wiener at jwiener@truah.org or (212) 845-5201.
