Newsroom

Monday, June 14, 2021

Amid Rising Antisemitism, California Budget Includes Significant Funding for Nonprofit Security Grants, Social Services, and Holocaust Education

Thursday, May 6, 2021

Jewish Caucus Announces 2021 Priority Bill Package
Legislation Advances Major Jewish Community Priorities Including Addressing Hate Crimes and Strengthening Holocaust Education; Caucus Also Unveils “Tikkun Olam Agenda” To Uplift Vulnerable Californians of All Backgrounds

 

Thursday, May 6, 2021

The California Legislative Jewish Caucus has announced new legislation that seeks to address key Jewish community issues and priorities.

Selected by Caucus members , who ensure the Jewish community has a voice in California’s policy-making processes, the bills proposed includes four “Jewish Caucus Priority” bills and nine “Tikkun Olam” bills, which emphasize core Jewish values like tzedek (justice) and ve’ahavta lere’acha kamocha (loving the stranger as yourself).

The legislation package focuses on major Jewish community priorities like preventing and responding to hate crimes, implementing measures to mitigate online hate and harassment, and strengthening Holocaust education.

 

Thursday, April 8, 2021

SACRAMENTO, CA — Today, the California State Legislature marked Yom HaShoah with special events at the State Capitol. The State Assembly and State Senate passed resolutions authored by the Jewish Caucus honoring the victims of the Holocaust and officially establishing April 8, 2021 as California Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Thursday, March 18, 2021

Sacramento, CA — Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D – Woodland Hills), Chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus and Senator Scott Wiener (D – San Francisco), Vice Chair, released the following statement regarding the State Board of Education’s adoption of the final Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum:

Monday, February 22, 2021

Members of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus joined a coalition of state lawmakers on the Capitol steps in Sacramento on Monday afternoon to promote a slate of bills aimed at addressing hate crimes against minority groups.

Rob Bonta, a member of the Assembly from the East Bay who is part of the Asian and Pacific Islander Caucus, organized the gathering so the state’s Jewish, Latino, LGBTQ, Black and Armenian leaders could express solidarity and showcase their legislative efforts amid a rise in racist attacks targeting Asian Americans across the state, including recent violent attacks in Oakland and San Francisco.

There have been 1,226 incidents of hate reported against Asian Americans in California since the coronavirus pandemic began, according to a tally this month by AAPI Hate, a San Francisco State University project that tracks attacks against the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. The incidents coincide with the proliferation of antisemitic conspiracy theories blaming Jews for the coronavirus, according to the ADL.

“We are not just talking,” said Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, a member of the Jewish caucus who represents parts of the East Bay. “We are taking action.”

 

Friday, February 5, 2021

State Assembly Majority Whip Jesse Gabriel also discusses the role states like California can play in foreign policy

On this week’s episode of Jewish Insider’s Limited Liability Podcast, hosts Jarrod Bernstein and Rich Goldberg are joined by California State Assembly Majority Whip and Chair of the California Jewish Caucus Jesse Gabriel and JI’s Melissa Weiss to discuss the recent controversy around the California ethnic studies curriculum. 

 

Friday, February 5, 2021

In recent days, several articles have appeared about the proposed Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum in California. Some include inaccuracies and misrepresentations of the plan’s current state and ignore the vital advocacy work that the Jewish Public Affairs Committee (JPAC), the largest single-state alliance of Jewish organizations in the United States, and others accomplished during the past 18 months.

Recent misleading articles included excerpts from a first draft of the model curriculum that are no longer present in its current state, false and out-of-context references in the lesson plans on Jewish Americans and failure to properly present a full and accurate timeline, scope of advocacy work, and achievements by our diverse coalition of Jewish organizations across the state. Other news articles incorrectly referred to one of the lesson plans on Jewish Americans as echoing Nazi propaganda and characterizing Jews as imposters in plain sight.

 

Monday, February 1, 2021

California Jewish groups appear less concerned than a recent headline would suggest

 

Thursday, January 14, 2021

A diverse coalition of more than 110 Jewish community organizations and leaders from across California, led by the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), the California Legislative Jewish Caucus and the JCRC of Silicon Valley, today called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to come together to confront hyperpartisanship and rising extremism in our politics.