L’chaim’s opposition to state murder is grounded in the fact that  many at L’chaim like myself – one of its co-founders – are direct descendants of Holocaust survivors. L’chaim carries the torch of one such survivor, Poet Laureate Elie Wiesel, who famously said of capital punishment: “Death is not the answer.”  L’chaim also follows in the footsteps of renowned Jewish theologian Martin Buber, and other Jewish human rights luminaries who opposed the execution of the Nazi mass murderer Adolf Eichmann. Members of L’chaim are keenly aware that the USA continues to carry on the Nazi legacy that is lethal injection, and to erect more and more gas chambers, including those that propose use of Zyklon B, of Auschwitz infamy. L’chaim stands with its partners in Louisiana – the Jews Against Gassing Coalition, chanting loudly together that Jews will “never forget!” As Wiesel said: “With every cell of my being and with every fiber of my memory I oppose the death penalty in all forms. I do not believe any civilized society should be at the service of death. I don’t think it’s human to become an agent of the angel of death.”

Source: L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty, From Los Angeles to Iran – CounterPunch.org