New Series!
Rabbinic Perspectives: Conversations for Our TimeS
Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel
Co-Chair, T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
In conversation with Rabbi Jack Luxemburg
Join us for a timely and thought-provoking conversation examining how Jewish wisdom informs a powerful moral vision of human dignity, equality, and justice, and how those ideals are brought to life in the world today.
One powerful answer to this question can be found in the work of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, itself. Rooted in Torah and Jewish ethical teachings, T’ruah translates enduring Jewish teachings into meaningful action by empowering rabbis and cantors to serve as moral voices in their communities. In the United States, this commitment takes shape through advocacy on issues such as democracy and voting rights, combating antisemitism, immigration reform, refugee protection, worker justice, prison reform, and racial justice.
This same Jewish commitment to human dignity also guides T’ruah’s work in Israel. There, T’ruah offers educational programs for American rabbinical students studying in Israel and partners with Israeli organizations such as Rabbis for Human Rights and Breaking the Silence. Together, they seek a just resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, one that upholds full human rights for all Israelis and Palestinians.
We invite you to be part of a communal conversation about faith, ethics, and the Jewish commitment to human rights.
Please register to receive the Zoom link to join us online. Barring technical issues, this program will be added to our Recording Archive.
Rabbi Daniel G. Zemel served as rabbi of Temple Micah in Washington, DC from 1983-2025. A graduate of Brown University, Rabbi Zemel received his rabbinic ordination from the New York campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1979.
Over the years, he has been involved in numerous community and Jewish organizations but derives greatest satisfaction from being a founder of Micah House, a group home for formerly homeless women in recovery from addiction. His twenty year involvement with Synagogue 2000 was instrumental in shaping his vision of synagogue life and the role of rabbi. He has written many articles and essays on a wide variety of Jewish topics. Rabbi Zemel is blessed with a loving family that is the center of his life. When not at Micah, he is either playing with his grandchildren, visiting Israel, reading, studying, thinking, or dreaming of his beloved Chicago White Sox playing in the World Series.