The Bergen County Jewish Action Committee (BCJAC) was founded in the aftermath of Oct. 7 to organize and advocate on behalf of our local Jewish community. We are a volunteer-led initiative, with an advisory board of community leaders, supported by an amazing network of volunteers and our local rabbis. Our advocacy takes numerous forms as issues arise, but it must necessarily include politics since the actions of our elected officials impact our daily lives in ways that few of us fully appreciated before Oct. 2023.
Our mission of promoting the local Jewish community’s interests has required us to take principled positions that we believe will benefit us collectively in the long-term. Indeed, our endorsed candidates from the 2024 board of education election and town council elections have come out of the gate strongly, working for our community and responding to constituents. We are proud of our record of endorsements and appreciate the community’s support, enthusiasm and perspectives.
We make endorsement decisions based on issues of importance for the Jewish community. We have chosen to endorse in the New Jersey Gubernatorial and District 37 State Assembly primaries because we believe these races are critical to maintaining and improving our quality of life, and because our community deserves representation that it can trust.
Our endorsements of Josh Gottheimer (D) and Jack Ciattarelli (R) for governor, and our endorsements of Yitz Stern and Rosemary Hernandez Carroll (D) for state assembly, are based on their impressive records, shared values and their allegiance to the communities they serve. Each of these candidates will fight for improved access to education, enhanced law enforcement, the IHRA bill and other issues of communal importance. We can’t predict all the issues that the next few years will bring, but we are confident that these candidates – if elected – will support us when those issues inevitably arise.
Our collective voice is strongest when our vote is unified. We appreciate that there are differences of opinion, especially when it comes to politics. We welcome friendly discussion and hope that you will reach out if you wish to discuss this or any other issue with us. We can be reached at [email protected].
