With so much attention last week on our country’s 250th Anniversary celebration and the World Cup, you may have missed two news stories that have, or will have, a direct impact on our local Jewish community.

In a July 1 Jewish News Service (JNS) article about California’s 2025 Hate in California report, Attorney General Rob Bonta shared that Jews were the target of almost 75% of all religion-based hate crimes. And even though Jews make up an estimated 3.25% of California residents, we were the target of almost 15% of all hate crimes in the state last year… a total of 289.

As a colleague of mine told JNS, this “latest report is another sobering reminder that antisemitism and all forms of hate continue to threaten communities across California. It also reveals a disconcerting statistic of hate across the board—few communities shielded nor immune. This is an urgent moment to call for stronger legislative and public safety tools to protect our community and all communities targeted by hate”

Before I go any further, I want to make something clear. The figures in this latest report do not include what are considered hate incidents… situations that do not meet the threshold of what is considered a crime… things like antisemitic comments shouted out loud or made online, or even the kind of harassment that State Senator Scott Wiener received while he was attending a Pride event last month.

But this is not breaking news… we have been aware of this climate for a long time, and, in fact, I have written several previous columns about it. However, what is news is how our state legislature is trying to rectify this.

As I have previously shared, our Jewish Federation is one of 40+ Jewish organizations within the state that are members of Jewish California (formerly Jewish Public Affairs Committee (JPAC)). Jewish California’s mission is to amplify Jewish voices through strategic statewide advocacy and coalition-building to better the lives of Jews and all Californians. And they do this by working directly with the California Jewish Legislative Caucus to get landmark legislation passed, like AB 715 (a first-in-the-nation law to counter antisemitism in K-12 schools), as well as advocate for other bills to help protect houses of worship and schools, secure funding for social services that support seniors, low-income families, survivors of violence, and many others.

And while this is happening in Sacramento, I am in regular contact with our local State Senators and Assemblymembers, making sure they are aware of issues facing our community and lobbying them to support current bills like AB 2664 (Safe Worship Zone Act), SB 1387 (Recognize Jewish Identity in Ethnicity), AB 1853 (No Hate in Voter Guide), and many others. It is through this Jewish advocacy that we are doing locally, on behalf of our local Jewish community and our partnership with Jewish California, through their work in Sacramento, that we are addressing and working to improve life for Jews throughout the state.

The second news story is that, after many years of being funded one budget cycle at a time, the state’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program now has an $80 million annual funding floor, following Governor Newsom’s signing of the state budget. This money helps synagogues (which many of our local synagogues have previously received) and other houses of worship, LGBTQ and community centers, schools, and reproductive health centers across California afford the security infrastructure needed to safeguard their congregants, staff, and visitors.

So you see, the donations our Jewish Federation receives support the advocacy work we do regularly and enable us to be a member of Jewish California. Through this advocacy, we are addressing the issues facing the Jewish community. And most importantly, the work is making a difference… and it is working!