It was just reported that the California legislature passed a bill making it the first state to recognize Jewish identity as an ethnicity, as well as a religion. Proponents of the bill believe that the change will make it possible to better track antisemitism in the state, particularly in light of the spike in antisemitism that followed the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.
I was under the impression that the ethnic version of antisemitism (often used interchangeably with race) was a development that accompanied the European Enlightenment and the 19th century rise of modern nationalism. Indeed, the term antisemitism itself is relatively new, coined by the German journalist Wilhelm Marr in 1879. Authors such as the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks (Not In God’s Name), note that during the Middle Ages, Jews were hated for their religion, while in the 19th century, they began to be hated for their race.
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