The commonly-used terms
Ashkenazi (meaning "German"
in Hebrew, denoting the Central European
base of Jewry), and
Sephardic (meaning "Spanish"
in Hebrew, denoting their Spanish and
North African location), refer both to a
religious and an ethnic division. Some
scholars hold that Ashkenazi Jews are
descendants of those who originally
followed the Palestinian Jewish religious
tradition, and Sephardic Jews are
descendants of those who originally
followed the Babylonian religious
tradition.
Jews have historically been divided
into four major ethnic groups:
-
Ashkenazi (Jews who lived in
Germany or
France before migrating to
Eastern Europe)
-
Sephardic (Jews who lived in
Spain or
Portugal)
-
Oriental or "Mizrahi" Jews (edut
hamizrach in Hebrew) (Jews who
lived in the
Middle East and
North Africa, but later spread to
Central Asia and
South Asia). Note that in
common usage, most Oriental Jews are
now referred to as Sephardic,
as the religious rites of Oriental and
Sephardic Jews are essentially the
same.
- The
Yemenite Jews (also known as
Teimanim ). These are Oriental
Jews whose geographical and social
isolation from the rest of the Jewish
community allowed them to develop a
liturgy and set of practices
sufficiently distinct from other
Oriental Jewish groups so as to be
recognized as a different group.
Of these communities, the largest by
far are the Ashkenazim, comprising
approximately 70% of the Jewish total,
with Oriental Jews comprising most of the
remainder. Many Sephardim live in
France (most of its Jews),
Eastern Europe and
Central Asia (small numbers), and the
USA (a very small number), but most
are in
Israel (about 50% of Israelis), where
they have created their own large ethnic
political party called
Shas guided by their rabbis such as
Ovadia Yosef.
Smaller groups
Smaller groups of Jews include the
following:
These groups number in the thousands
or tens of thousands, with the Gruzim
being most numerous at about 100,000.
Many members of these groups have now
emigrated from their traditional
homelands, largely to Israel. For
example, only about 10% of the Gruzim
remain in Georgia.
Jewish languages
Yiddish (Judaeo-German; the very word
means "Jewish") was the common language
of Eastern European Jews until the
Holocaust.
Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish) was spoken by
many Sephardim. Jews in Arab lands spoke
Judaeo-Arabic; in other Islamic
countries they spoke
Aramaic or
Persian. Many other smaller Jewish
populations spoke "Jewish" versions of
their respective local languages. See
Jewish languages.
Migrations
Following the
Spanish Inquisition, the Sephardic
Jews were dispersed, some migrating
mainly to
Southern Europe, where they were
assimilated into the Ashkenazi, others
migrating to
North Africa and the
Middle East where they were
assimilated into the Oriental Jews. Most
Oriental Jews practice Sephardic rite and
are therefore sometimes referred to as
Sephardic. Ashkenazi Jews practice
Ashkenazi rite.
Famous ethnic Jews
- See also:
List of Jews
Despite the relatively small number of
Jews worldwide, many influential thinkers
and leaders in modern times have been
ethnically Jewish. Ethnic Jews have stood
at the basis of modern
psychology,
philosophy,
socialism,
capitalism and many important
scientific and
technological advances were first
discovered by Jews.
The
list of famous Jews includes
Moses Maimonides (rabbi and
philosopher),
Baruch Spinoza (philosopher),
Karl Marx (founder of
Marxism, parents converted to
Christianity when he was young),
Benjamin Disraeli (baptised by
parents into
Anglican Church, British
Prime Minister),
Leon Trotsky (creator of the
Russian
Red Army and philosopher),
Sigmund Freud (father of
psychoanalysis),
Albert Einstein (physicist who
proposed the
theory of relativity),
Haym Solomon (financier of the
American Revolution),
Judah Benjamin (Confederate
leader),
Edward Teller (father of the
hydrogen bomb),
Theodor Herzl (founder of modern
secular
Zionism),
Ludwig von Mises (economist),
Ayn Rand (writer),
Noam Chomsky (linguist,
philosopher, and social theorist),
Hyman Rickover (admiral, father of US
nuclear navy),
David BenGurion (founding Prime
Minister of
State of Israel),
Henry Kissinger (US
Secretary of State),
Milton Friedman (economist),
Kirk Douglas (movie actor),
Steven Spielberg (movie producer),
William Shatner (TV and movie actor),
Michael Bloomberg (billionaire
financier and
New York City
mayor),
Moshe Feldenkrais (founder of the
Feldenkrais Method), and
Andrew Grove (co-founder and chairman
of
Intel).
Conversion to Judaism
Main article:
Conversion to Judaism
The laws of conversion to Judaism are
based in discussions in the Talmud.
Jewish law is generally interpreted as
discouraging proselytizing, and
conversion is also discouraged. However,
a rabbi convinced of the prospective
convert's sincerity may allow him or her
to follow the process of conversion. The
convert is taught the basic laws and
beliefs of Judaism, and must show an
ability to keep the laws and make a
commitment to keep them.
As discussed above, some denominations
of present-day Judaism do not follow
traditional Jewish laws concerning
conversion. As a result, their converts
may not be recognized by other Jewish
denominations.
