Rally Against Hate Scheduled For Sunday In Greenburgh

DOBBS FERRY, NY — A Rally Against Hate will be held in response to the events in Charlottesville Sunday, Sept. 24 at the Woodlands Community Temple. Organizers said that people from villages of Ardsley, Dobbs Ferry, Hastings-on-Hudson, Irvington and Tarrytown and the Town of Greenburgh are invited to write their own words of hope, love and inclusiveness on paper dolls and affix them on the walls of the 1,000-seat open tent to create a tapestry of love.

The rally begins at 4 p.m. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

The messages will be boxed after the rally and delivered to groups of all races and nationalities around the country who are feeling scared and attacked.

Local houses of worship, village leaders, community organizers, as well as state and local representatives will join with their supporters in the area to participate in this celebration of democracy and repudiation of hate, white supremacy, minority prejudice and bigotry in all its forms.

Featured speakers include Esther Geizhals, a Holocaust survivor representing the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center who lives in Westchester, Evan Bernstein, NY Regional Director, Anti-Defamation League and Carola Bracco, Neighbors Link, who is directly involved working with immigrants. Other speakers to date include Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner, County Legislator MaryJane Shimsky, Pastor Leroy Richards of the First Community Church of the Nazarene, and Woodlands rabbis Billy Dreskin and Mara Young. Music will be provided by Ira and Julie Levin, Kristina Sammy and The First Community Church of the Nazarene Choir, Cantor Jonathan Gordon, Adam Hart, Jenny Murphy, and Mark Kaufman and his band, Exit 12.

While the rally is being held on the grounds of Woodlands Community Temple, Rabbi Billy Dreskin said it is not a Woodlands event.

“It belongs to all of us who don’t want hate to find a home here, all of us who want to tell our neighbors, tell our friends, tell ourselves, ours is a home that is open to all,” he said. “The symbolism of the open tent couldn’t be more poignant; it embodies the kind of neighborhoods in which we all hope our children can grow.”

Sponsoring organizations include Ardsley United Methodist Church, First Church of the Nazarene, Greenburgh Human Rights Advisory Committee, Greenburgh Interfaith Caring Community, Shames JCC on the Hudson, South Presbyterian Church, Temple Beth Shalom, Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, Greenburgh Hebrew Center, Town of Greenburgh, Village of Ardsley, Village of Hastings-on-Hudson, Village of Irvington, and Woodlands Community Temple.

Woodlands Community Temple is located at 50 Worthington Road in Greenburgh.

Photo credit: Google Maps.