There has been a growing controversy since the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation first announced the most restrictive funding guidelines in the country.

from Tablet Magazine:

Academic Question

San Francisco’s Federation puts new restrictions on its grants, worrying Bay Area Jewish-studies profs

At first glance, an open letter published in last week’s Forward seemed like business as usual. The letter, signed by about 70 Bay Area Jewish intellectuals including the biblical scholar Robert Alter and the poet Adrienne Rich, protests a decision by the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation to restrict its funding to groups and projects that hold what it deems to be acceptable views on the State of Israel. Given both the ongoing acrimony within the region’s Jewish community over Israel politics and the propensity of Bay Area Jewish intellectuals to sign open letters, one might suppose that not much was at stake for the signatories beyond the hardening of lines around their political camp.

But for many of the signatories, there’s much more on the line.