What does it mean to be Jewish in a time of rising antisemitism?

The state of California is poised to become the first in the nation to recognize being Jewish as an ethnic and racial, not just a religious, identity.

On Aug. 13, a key committee of its state Senate passed a bill that would add “Jewish” to its long list of recognized identities. This is an important step forward in a longstanding debate about whether that label denotes just a religion or is an ethnicity or race. As The New York Times observes, it is “a first step toward acknowledging and demystifying the multifaceted nature of Jewish identity.”

But it comes at a dangerous moment for American Jews, a moment of rising antisemitism and anti-Jewish hate crimes.

Critics contend that the bill “could well exacerbate antisemitism.” They draw lessons from history, noting how Nazis and others have denounced Jews for being members of an inferior race. Germany’s Adolf Hitler and the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin treated Jews as an ethnic group and used that designation as justification for state-sponsored antisemitism.

That is why California, which has the second-largest Jewish population in the U.S., needs not only to allow the state to recognize them as members of an ethnic or racial group but, as it does so, to redouble its efforts to combat antisemitism in the state and protect its Jewish population.

If the bill passes, the governor and legislature should be ready for it to be weaponized by hate groups. Although Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has........

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