Letter to the California Faculty Association from the JCRC
Dear California Faculty Association Leadership,
We at the Jewish Community Relations Council for the Sacramento Region (JCRC) and Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region write to condemn the language in your 2026 candidate endorsement questionnaire that includes the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC), of which JCRC is a member, among “groups that harm working people” to be “rejected.” To be clear, through this language, CFA is urging candidates to reject not just money from Jews, but to stigmatize participation by Jews in the political process and any advocacy from more than 40 Jewish organizations statewide.
To single out a diverse statewide Jewish coalition for boycott – one whose work is grounded in advancing civil rights – is misguided, offensive, and wildly alarming. It misrepresents JPAC and its members’ mission, undermines our shared commitments, and reduces an entire ethno-religious community to a single harmful stereotype.
Misrepresenting JPAC and its Members’ Mission
JPAC does not make campaign contributions or endorsements. Neither does JCRC. JPAC is a nonprofit legislating advocacy coalition representing California’s diverse Jewish community through public policy and budget advocacy – not political financing.
JCRC is one of more than 40 JPAC member organizations that amplify Jewish values and priorities in pursuit of a more just and equitable state: combating hate, expanding social services, uplifting vulnerable populations, and ensuring safety and opportunity for all Californians. JPAC’s impact is built on decades of partnership, trust, and solidarity.
Whether born of misunderstanding or deliberate distortion, this mischaracterization ignores basic facts and seeks to blacklist an entire community from civic participation.
JPAC and Its Members Strengthen Working Families
JPAC’s member agencies are among California’s leading providers of social and human services. JPAC reaches people of all backgrounds and faiths. Across the state, Jewish Family Service agencies are providing critical support to those affected by the current government shutdown – and helping older adults, people with disabilities, domestic violence survivors, foster youth, and food-insecure and unhoused families meet their basic needs. Here in Sacramento, the Jewish Federation supports community members who need help with food security, finances, senior services, and family issues, and provides weekly kosher meals to seniors. JCRC advocates for local policies that would better support Northern California’s working families, including students, immigrants, and refugees.
JPAC is our collective voice in our state government – advocating for legislation and budget investments that alleviate hunger and poverty, and expand access to housing, health care, reproductive rights, and working families these agencies serve every day.
Harmful Generalizations Perpetuate Anti-Jewish Stereotypes
Suggesting that Jewish communal advocacy harms working people or unduly influences elections is not only factually wrong – it perpetuates a long-standing stereotype about Jews and power that has fueled antisemitism for centuries. By framing California’s diverse Jewish community as inherently harmful, your questionnaire generalizes an entire ethno-religious community into a single, negative caricature. It implies that Jewish participation in civic life is suspect or dangerous and seeks to make collaboration with the Jewish community politically toxic.
At a time when antisemitic hate crimes are surging – making Jews the second-most targeted group in California despite being just 3% of the population – this rhetoric is anything but benign. No other identity-based community, or organization was singled out in your questionnaire. This double standard reflects a bias inconsistent with the labor movement’s proud tradition of solidarity and inclusion.
We are proud of the integral role Jewish Americans played in the foundational story of labor in America. This history makes CFA’s demonization, generalization, and double standard toward the Jewish community especially painful.
A Path Forward
JCRC urges CFA to remove this language from all current and future questionnaires and to publicly affirm the union movement’s commitment to opposing antisemitism in all forms — including the exclusion or vilification of Jewish organizations acting in good faith within the democratic process. California’s Jewish community – like every community – has a rightful place in civic and political life. If this language remains unaddressed, we will join the call on elected officials to consider declining endorsements from and working with organizations that traffic in antisemitic stereotypes.
Words matter – especially when they come from institutions that shape civic discourse. We have heard from local CSU faculty – even before this questionnaire – that CFA’s actions and rhetoric over the past two years have made their own union feel like an unsafe place for Jews. We hope you will see this as an opportunity to reaffirm the inclusive values that the labor movement and California’s Jewish community have long shared.
Signed,
Jewish Community Relations Council of the Sacramento Region
Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region
Sacramento State Jewish Faculty and Staff Employee Resource Group