(Courtesy of Office of Rosemary Hernandez Carroll) Assembly candidate Rosemary Hernandez Carroll joined hundreds of community members outside Congregation Keter Torah on Monday, March 24 to show support for Teaneck’s Jewish community in the face of targeted hate.
The gathering was a peaceful yet powerful response to a planned protest by fringe groups opposing an Israeli real estate event. As demonstrators arrived to disrupt a legal and culturally significant gathering at the synagogue, members of the Jewish community and their allies stood united in celebration, strength, and pride.
“I couldn’t stay home,” said Hernandez Carroll. “To see a house of worship targeted simply because of who gathers there—it’s unfathomable. What I witnessed wasn’t just resistance to hate. It was joy, it was pride, it was community. Love showed up louder.”
The counterprotest, supported by the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County and the Bergen County Jewish Action Committee, drew an estimated 300 people. Participants waved flags, held signs that read “Jew hatred is un-American” and “We won’t run, we won’t hide, we are filled with Jewish pride,” and filled the street with music and dancing.
While the opposing group, reportedly backed by American Muslims for Palestine and other extremist factions, brought fewer than 50 participants, the Jewish community and its supporters chose to respond not with anger, but with joy, unity, and resolve.
Hernandez Carroll attended alongside her running mate, Yitz Stern, to reinforce their shared commitment to defending the values that bring Bergen County together.
“We showed up together because our community deserves leaders who will stand against hate in all its forms,” Hernandez Carroll said. “This wasn’t just about one protest. It was about protecting the freedom to worship, to gather, and to live with dignity.”
Reflecting on the moment, she added, quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Hernandez Carroll and Stern, who are running under the banner Together for 37, emphasized that their campaign is grounded in unity, inclusion, and a belief in showing up for one another.
For more information or media inquiries, visit togetherforbergen37.com.
