California Moves to Recognize Jews as an Ethnic Group, Not Just a Religion

California is set to become the first U.S. state to officially recognize Jewish identity as an ethnic group in addition to a religion. This move reflects longstanding debates about Jewish identity, which has historically challenged conventional legal and social categories in the United States. According to Liora Batnitzky, a Princeton religion professor, Jews were traditionally classified solely by religion when granted citizenship in European nation-states, a categorization that has been internally contested within Jewish communities.

A 2021 Pew Research study found that only 11% of American Jews view Jewishness primarily as a religious identity, with many Jews identifying culturally or ethnically despite not practicing religion. The proposed California law aims to improve data collection on hate crimes and public health efforts, such as genetic screening for diseases prevalent in Jewish populations. The complexity of Jewish identity has caused confusion in public discourse and official contexts, exemplified by the 2022 suspension of actress Whoopi Goldberg from "The View" after she incorrectly stated that the Holocaust was not related to race.

The bill, championed by California Democratic Senator Henry Stern, is motivated by his personal experiences with antisemitism despite not displaying religious symbols. It enjoys broad support from Jewish organizations but faces opposition from progressive Jewish groups like Jewish Voice for Peace, who argue the law oversimplifies Jewish identity, risks increasing antisemitism, and could be costly to the state. Senator Stern dismissed these concerns, emphasizing that Jewish identity inherently involves complex tensions as a people, nation, ethnicity, and religion, and that the law will spark important conversations as it has for thousands of years.