Sept. 11, 2026 6:30 AM PT
To the editor: Thank you for the article concerning California Senate Bill 1387, which would officially recognize Jews as an ethnic group for those who opt to identify as such (“California wants to list Jewish as an ethnicity, sparking discussion over what it means to be a Jew,” Sept. 6).
The bill arises from the complex interaction of history, culture, ancestry, traditions, humor, religion, ties to Israel, diaspora Jewry and the shared sense of peoplehood as an extended family (in Yiddish, “mishpocha”) that collectively form the tapestry of Jewish ethnic identity at the heart of the proposal.
Notably, the author of the bill, Democratic state Sen. Henry Stern, is the son of actor Daniel Stern. The elder Stern narrated the television series “The Wonder Years,” which featured one of the first depictions on broadcast television of a bar mitzvah ceremony and reception. The episode was written by Henry Stern’s uncle, David M. Stern.
The diverse aspects of Jewish identity were encapsulated by a song I remember from the Jewish summer day camp I attended as a child in northern Virginia. Songwriter Shirley Grossman’s “Jewish Is More Than a Bagel” humorously references cuisine (knishes, matzo balls), “studying and learning” and “hearing your mother holler: ‘Go put on your coat!’” as examples of what it means to be Jewish. The song concludes: “Jewish is a people, a nation, a law and a land and a civilization — that beats a bagel every time.”
Stephen A. Silver, San Francisco
..
To the editor: SB 1387, which would add a Jewish ethnicity box to state forms, is misguided. California recognizes nearly 50 racial and ethnic categories for data collection. Sorting people into ever more distinct, separate groups is corrosive — it fuels polarization by encouraging individuals to see themselves first as members of a subgroup, not as Americans.
The only real uses for such categories are allocating or denying benefits by group, favoring some while others are disadvantaged. That is balkanization by design. Jews, in particular, know at great cost where official registries of ethnic identity can lead.
Sen. Stern calls this empowerment. Respectfully, that rationale does not pass the red-face test. Jews have expressed their identity on their own terms for millennia and will continue to do so.
California has real problems that demand the Legislature’s attention — homelessness, and a safety net riddled with fraud and mismanagement. Lawmakers should stop wasting time splitting us up into groups.
Michael H. Leb, Pasadena
..
To the editor: Of all the terrible ideas floated in our civic life since the turn of this century, California SB 1387 takes the cake. Apparently, the measure has broad support in our state Legislature.
I implore Gov. Gavin Newsom to save (all of) us from ourselves by vetoing this sure-thing Pandora’s box.
According to the story, it would make California first in the nation to “require state agencies to include a box for Jewish ethnicity on all demographic data forms, ranging from public assistance programs to college applications.”
Given recent events and a long history, what could possibly go wrong? No imagined “benefits” could ever outweigh lasting harm.
Frances O’Neill Zimmerman, La Jolla
..
To the editor: Just when you thought that our state Legislature couldn’t possibly get any more incompetent with ridiculous legislation, we get SB 1387. I am sure that every Jewish resident of California can’t wait to have their religious identity stored on a government database. Oy vey.
Gerald Kamin, Sherman Oaks