Sephardim and Ashkenazim - Two Jewish Ethnicities

Ethnically, there are two main groups of Jews in the world today: Ashkenazim and Sephardim. In the United States, the vast majority of Jews are Ashkenazim, and most of what is considered "Jewish" culture here is either Ashkenazi or really just American. Religiously, the two groups are similar, but somewhat different, with Sephardim including some people who are ethnically neither Sephardim or Ashkenazim, but Mizrachim - that is, Jews who never left the middle east or northern Africa.

Who are the Ashkenazim?

Ashkenaz is medieval Hebrew for Germany. The word "Ashkenaz" appears in the Bible in three places: Genesis 10:3, I Chronicles and Jeremiah 51:27; in Genesis, Ashkenaz is a son of Gomer. The Ashkenazim migrated east from Germany, to Poland, Lithuania, and many parts of what was Russia or the Soviet Union or the Austro-Hungarian empire. Fleeing pogroms and other persecution, many came to America.

Who are the Sephardim?

Sephard (also Sfarad) is Hebrew for Spain. The Sephardim are mainly descendants of Jews who fled Spain following their expulsion in 1492 and during the inquisition. From Spain, many fled south to north Africa; others went north, to England, the Netherlands, France and other parts of western Europe.

Relative numbers of Ashkenazim and Sephardim

There are about 10 million Ashkenazim in the world, with 6,000,000 in the United States and about 2.5 million in Israel. There are about 1.5 to 2 million Sephardim in the world today, about 700,000 in Israel, 300,000 in France, and the rest scattered in many countries. There are about 100,000 Sephardim in the United States.

Cuisine of the Ashkenazim and Sephardim

Each has adapted the cuisines of the lands in which they live, with some variations. For Ashkenazi cuisine, emblematic dishes are gefilte fish, chopped liver, kugel (noodle pudding) and matzoh ball soup. For Sephardim, traditional dishes include couscous, fish, stuffed grape leaves, with frequent use of Mediterranean seasonings.

Culture of the Ashkenazim and Sephardim

The word for the culture of the Ashkenazim is Yiddishkeit, which is Yiddish for "Jewishness". In Eastern Europe, Yiddishkeit revolved around bible study - to be a scholar was the noblest thing for a man (women were not treated so well). More recently, many Ashkenazi Jews have become much less religious, but are often still very scholarly.

In America, Ashkenazim have also gravitated toward show business, and especially comedy.

Sephardi culture also emphasizes learning; throughout history, many Sephardi Jews have been doctors; many rulers had Sephardi advisers. In America, Sephardi culture is less well-defined than Ashkenazi, simply because there are fewer.

Languages of the Ashkenazim and Sephardim

Both Ashkenazim and Sephardim spoke the language of whatever country they lived in; among themselves, though, many Ashkenazim spoke Yiddish and many Sephardim spoke Ladino (both languages declined in use in the 20^th century, only partly due to the Shoah, but there are some signs that they are making a comeback). Yiddish is written in Hebrew characters, but is based on Middle High German, with some words from Hebrew, Polish, Russian and other languages added. Ladino, on the other hand, is based on medieval Spanish, with words added from Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic and other languages as well. Yiddish and Ladino have virtually nothing in common. (Friends of mine who speak Ladino and Hebrew fluently said they managed to get along in South America by speaking Ladino and taking out the Hebrew).

Liturgies of the Ashkenazim and Sephardim

There are substantial difference in liturgy both within and between these groups, but that is a huge field in which I am not remotely knowledgeable.

Other groups of Jews

As mentioned above, there are also the Mizrachi Jews, who never left the middle east or northern Africa. There are or were groups of Jews in China, Africa (most prominently Ethiopia), and Yemen, each of these was entirely isolated from other groups of Jews for much of history. Many have found homes in Israel or the United States.

Sources:

Wikipedia

Forward http://www.forward.com/articles/13681/ (on Ashkenaz in the Bible)