Article by Talya Malka ('20)
Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews, what’s the difference? Is it more than just gefilte fish and Moroccan salmon? The short answer is yes. Today, I explore the origins of commonly held stereotypes regarding these parts of Judaism in our Torah High community.
From an insider’s look at the Sephardic community, I see the sect of Judaism that I call my own as loud, warm, and traditional. I’ll provide a personal story for context. Annually, on the day after Pesach, we celebrate our reunification with leavened food through a Moroccan festival called a Mimouna. Our volume was not kept low, and our neighbors called the police. Somehow, the police left our house with plates of food.
What about Ashkenazim? Personally, when I think of Ashkenazim I visualize bagel loving New Yorkers with welcoming personalities. But this stereotype might be completely false.
I decided to put any prior conceptions to the test by asking girls around Torah High about their own experiences within their respective cultures of Judaism. Here are two quotes from both sides of Judaism:
“Sephardic Jews are never on time. At the eighth grade graduation, all the Sephardic students missed the procession.” —Nicole Levy, Sephardic.
“I was ordering at Coffee Bean and exclaimed ‘Oy Gevalt’ when coins fell out of my wallet. The barista looked confused.”—Rina Lederman, Ashkenazi.
Is there any historical basis behind these stereotypes? For the purpose of the article, I will focus mostly on the Jewish presence in Western culture. Let’s understand the history of Jewish immigration.
You may be surprised to hear that Sephardic Jews, originating from Spain, Portugal, the Middle East, and North Africa, were among the first to immigrate to America, doing so during colonial times. Although by 1730, America’s Sephardic population was outnumbered by Ashkenazi Jews, colonial and revolutionary culture was characterized by Sephardic culture and tradition.
Between 1880 to 1914, many Ashkenazi Jews from Germany, France, and other countries in Eastern Europe, began to immigrate in waves to the newly founded country, settling predominantly in New York. Both parts of Judaism would create their own unique Western adaptations of their traditional cultures of their homeland.
Spain or Germany, couscous or latkes, we are all connected by an unchangeable commonality: our Judaism. History proves that origin becomes insignificant when faced with persecution. Let us not let cultural differences contribute to a divide in our community: Let’s celebrate the stories of our culture.
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