California Considers Adding “Jewish” as an Ethnic Category on State Forms

California, which already lists nearly 50 racial and ethnic identities for official data collection, is debating a bill that would add an optional “Jewish” box to all state demographic forms. The legislation, Senate Bill 1387, is slated for a pivotal committee vote this week. If enacted, the state would become the first to treat Jewishness as an ethnicity rather than solely a religion for statistical purposes.

New York Times

Scholars note that Jewish identity has historically resisted neat legal categorization. Leora Batnitzky, a professor of religion at Princeton University and author of *How Judaism Became a Religion*, explains that European citizenship laws forced Jews to define themselves primarily as a religion, a view that has long been contested within the Jewish community. Contemporary surveys show that most American Jews see their identity as a blend of religion, ancestry, and culture rather than purely religious.

New York Times

• Leora Batnitzky – Princeton professor who highlights the internal contestation of Jewish identity.

New York Times

• Pew Research Center (2021) – Found that only 11 % of American Jews consider “being Jewish” mainly about religion, with the majority emphasizing a combination of cultural and ancestral factors.

New York Times

Proponents argue that the new category would improve the state’s ability to quantify its Jewish population, enhance hate-crime tracking, and inform public-health initiatives such as targeted genetic-screening programs for diseases more prevalent in Jewish communities. Accurate classification could also prevent antisemitic incidents from being misrecorded on reporting forms.

New York Times

The bill is currently before a Senate committee, with supporters emphasizing the need for clearer data to address both safety and health concerns. Opponents have not been prominently featured in the available reporting, and the outcome of the upcoming vote remains uncertain.

New York Times