In person + on Zoom

Are Jews an Ethnic Group?

What California’s new law means for Jews in the Golden State and beyond

Featuring

  • David Bocarsly, Jewish California
  • Keith Feldman, UC Berkeley
  • Ari Y. Kelman, Stanford
  • Rabbi Tarlan Rabizadeh, American Jewish University
  • Aliya Saperstein, Stanford

Moderated by Asaf Elia-Shalev, J. The Jewish News of Northern California

Monday, Nov 2

  • 5:30–7:00 pm PT
  • Room: ANKO 109
  • Stanford University
Register — free

Governor Newsom signed SB 1387 on September 30, 2026. California is the first state to add “Jewish” as an ethnicity option on state demographic forms.

Register

Free and open to the public. Join us in the room or online. In-person seating is limited.

How will you join?

You’re registered.

Check your inbox for a confirmation. We’ll send a reminder before the event.

Register someone else

About the conversation

American Jews have long been irked by their absence from government forms, and just as wary of any state effort to decide who is Jewish and who is not. California’s newly signed SB 1387 lets Jews identify themselves as Jewish when answering questions about ethnicity. Is this good for the Jews of California, or will there be unintended consequences? And how are Jews feeling about it?

Join a conversation with the leader of the coalition that sponsored the bill, a sociologist who studies how census questions shape who gets counted, a rabbi who leads Jewish engagement at American Jewish University, and scholars who are grappling with the implications of this change for Jews in California.

In partnership with

J. The Jewish News of Northern California · New Lehrhaus · Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity · Stanford Institute for Advancing Just Societies · Concentration in Education and Jewish Studies

California and U.S. flags against a blue sky

The panel

  • David Bocarsly David BocarslyCEO, Jewish California
  • Keith Feldman Keith FeldmanAssociate Professor of Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley
  • Ari Y. Kelman Ari Y. KelmanProfessor of Education, Stanford University
  • Rabbi Tarlan Rabizadeh Rabbi Tarlan RabizadehVice President for Jewish Engagement, American Jewish University
  • Aliya Saperstein Aliya SapersteinProfessor of Sociology, Stanford University
  • Asaf Elia-Shalev Asaf Elia-Shalev ModeratorEditor in Chief, J. The Jewish News of Northern California