Mizrahi Jews

The term Mizrahi is used in Israel in the language of politics, media and some social scientists for Jews from the Arab world and adjacent, primarily Muslim-majority countries. It would also include the Jews of India , Jews of Pakistan , and Baghdadi Jews who settled in the last few centuries (in contrast to Jewish communities of the Indian subcontinent established millennia earlier). Despite their heterogeneous origins, Mizrahi Jews generally practice rites identical or similar to traditional Sephardic Judaism , although with some differences among the minhagim of the particular communities. This has resulted in a conflation of terms, particularly in Israel , and in religious usage, where "Sephardi" is used in a broad sense to include Mizrahi Jews as well as Sephardim proper. Indeed, from the point of view of the official Israeli rabbinate, the Mizrahi rabbis in Israel are under the jurisdiction of the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel who, in most cases, is a Mizrahi Jew.

The term Mizrahi is most commonly used in Israel to refer to Jews who trace their roots back to Muslim-majority countries. This includes descendants of Babylonian Jews from modern Iraq , Syria , Bahrain , Kuwait , Dagestan , Azerbaijan , Iran , Lebanon , Uzbekistan , Kurdistan , Afghanistan and Pakistan . Yemenite and Georgian Jews are usually included within the Mizrahi Jews group. Some also expand the definition of Mizrahim to Maghrebi and Sephardic . Furthermore, some even reclassify the whole Israeli Jewish society as "Mizrahi" as compared with the Western Jews of Europe and the Americas. The use of the term Mizrahi can be somewhat controversial. Before the establishment of the state of Israel, Mizrahi Jews did not identify themselves as a separate ethnic subgroup. Instead, Mizrahi Jews generally characterized themselves as Sephardi , because they follow the traditions of Sephardic Judaism (although with some differences among the minhagim of the particular communities). This has resulted in a conflation of terms, particularly in Israel , and in religious usage, where "Sephardi" is used in a broad sense to include Mizrahi Jews and Maghrebi Jews as well as Sephardim proper. Indeed, from the point of view of the official Israeli rabbinate, any rabbis of Mizrahi origin in Israel are under the jurisdiction of the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel . Today those of Sephardic rite make up more than half of Israel's Jewish population, and Mizrahi Jews proper are a major part of them. Before the mass immigration of over one million people from the former Soviet Union, mostly of Ashkenazi descent , followers of the Sephardic rite made up over 70% of Israel's Jewish population. Mizrahi Jews make up the largest ethnic group in Israel. As of 2005, 61% of Israeli Jews are of Mizrahi ancestry. Statistical Abstract of Israel, 2009, CBS . The Politics of Identity and Reproduction in Israel , Ducker, Clare Louise, Institute of Social Studies , The Hague, Netherlands

Descendants of local Jewish populations in North Africa and the Middle East Ethnic group Mizrahi Jews ( ) or Mizrahim ( מִזְרָחִים ), also referred to as Mizrachi ( מִזְרָחִי ), Edot HaMizrach ( עֲדוֹת-הַמִּזְרָח ; "[Jewish] Communities of the [Middle] East"; Mizrahi Hebrew: ʿEdot(h) Ha(m)Mizraḥ ), or Oriental Jews , are the descendants of the local Jewish communities that had existed in the Middle East and North Africa from biblical times into the modern era. Originally, the term Mizrahi was the Hebrew translation of Eastern European Jews ' German name Ostjuden , as seen in the Mizrahi Movement , Bank Mizrahi and in HaPoel HaMizrahi . In the 1950s the Jews who came from the communities listed above were simply called and known as Jews ( Yahud in Arabic) and in order to distinguish them in the Jewish sub-ethnicities, Israeli officials, who themselves were mostly Eastern European Jews, transferred the name to them (even as the surname "Mizrachi", assigned by immigration clerks, replacing previously held surnames), though most of these immigrants arrived from lands located further westward than Central Europe . Mizrahi is subsequently the surname most often changed by Israelis, and many scholars claim that the transferring of the name "Mizrahim" was a form of Orientalism towards the Oriental Jews, similar to the ways in which Westjuden had labeled Ostjuden as "second class" and excluded them from possible positions of power. "Mizrahim" include descendants of Babylonian Jews from modern Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan , Syrian Jews , Yemenite Jews , Georgian Jews , Mountain Jews from Dagestan and Azerbaijan , Persian Jews from Iran , Bukharan Jews from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan . The term Mizrahim is also sometimes applied to descendants of Maghrebi Jews and Sephardi Jews , who had lived in North Africa ( Egypt , Libya , Tunisia , Algeria , and Morocco ), the Sephardi communities of Turkey , and the mixed Levantine communities of Lebanon , Old Yishuv , and Syria . These various Jewish communities were first grouped into a single ethnic identity officially in the Jewish Agency 's 1944 One Million Plan . As of 2005, 61% of Israeli Jews were of full or partial Mizrahi ancestry. Before the establishment of the state of Israel , Mizrahi Jews did not identify themselves as a separate Jewish subgroup. Instead, Mizrahi Jews generally characterized themselves as Sephardi , as they follow the customs and traditions of Sephardi Judaism (but with some differences among the minhag "customs" of particular communities). That has resulted in a conflation of terms, particularly in Israel and in religious usage, with "Sephardi" being used in a broad sense and including Mizrahi Jews, North African Jews as well as Sephardim proper. From the point of view of the official Israeli rabbinate, any rabbis of Mizrahi origin in Israel are under the jurisdiction of the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel . From 1948 to 1980, over 850,000 Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews were expelled, fled or evacuated from Arab and Muslim countries . The Times of Israel. 28 November 2012 . The Jerusalem Post . 21 March 2016 . The Jewish Agency noted that some fifty Jews remain in Yemen... The New York Times . Ruvik Rosental , PhD., "Western Sepharadim and Eastern Ashkenazim" at his website, September 9th, 2000. "The Settling of Western Jews in Jerusalem" , Official Israeli Ministry of Education paper for high school students about North African Jews who prior were called "Western Jews" to as &/ "Mugrabi Jews" as opposed to "Mizrahi/Eastern Jews". The Logic of an Israeli Obsession ", Stanford University Press. There were earlier plans to bring specific groups, such as the Yemenites, but the "one million plan" was, as Shenhav says, "the zero point," the moment when the category of mizrahi jews in the current sense of this term, as an ethnic group distinct from European-born jews, was invented." Jews, Arabs, and Arab Jews: The Politics of Identity and Reproduction in Israel , Ducker, Clare Louise, Institute of Social Studies , The Hague, Netherlands Hoge, Warren (5 November 2007).

Jews of the Middle East and North Africa For other entities and people named "Mizrachi", see Mizrachi (disambiguation) . Ethnic group History Communities Population Denominations Orthodox Modern Haredi Hasidic Reform Conservative Karaite Reconstructionist Renewal Science Haymanot Humanistic Culture Languages Hebrew Biblical Mishnaic Medieval Modern Bukharian Ghardaïa Sign Jewish Koine Greek Judeo-Arabic Judeo-Aramaic Judeo-Berber Judeo-Gascon Judaeo-Georgian Judaeo-Iranian Judeo-Italian Judeo-Malayalam Judaeo-Spanish Judeo-Tat Knaanic Shassi Yeshivish Yevanic Yiddish Zarphatic Politics Category Portal v t e Mizrahi Jews ( ), also known as Mizrahim ( מִזְרָחִים ) or Mizrachi ( מִזְרָחִי ) and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or Edot HaMizrach ( עֲדוֹת-הַמִּזְרָח , lit. ' Communities of the East ' ), are a grouping of Jewish communities comprising those who remained in the Land of Israel and those who existed in diaspora throughout and around the Middle East and North Africa ( MENA ) from biblical times into the modern era . Mizrahi is a political sociological term that was coined with the creation of the State of Israel . It translates as "Easterner" in Hebrew and refers to Oriental Jews. In current usage, the term Mizrahi is almost exclusively applied to descendants of Jewish communities from the Middle East and North Africa ; in this classification are the descendants of Mashriqi Jews who had lived in Middle Eastern countries, such as Egyptian Jews , Iranian Jews , Iraqi Jews , Kurdish Jews , Lebanese Jews , Syrian Jews , Turkish Jews , and Yemenite Jews ; as well as the descendants of Maghrebi Jews who had lived in North African countries, such as Algerian Jews , Libyan Jews , Moroccan Jews , and Tunisian Jews . These various Jewish communities were first officially grouped into a singular identifiable division during World War II , when they were distinctly outlined in the One Million Plan of the Jewish Agency for Israel , which detailed the methods by which Jews in diaspora were to be returned to the Land of Israel (then under the British Mandate of Palestine ) after the Holocaust . Mizrahi also includes Jewish communities from Central Asia and the Caucasus such as the Persian Jews , Afghan Jews , Bukharan Jews from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan , and the Mountain Jews from Dagestan and Azerbaijan . While these communities have traditionally spoken Judaeo-Iranian languages such as Juhuri and Bukharian , some of their descendants are also widely fluent in Russian due to those countries' existence as republics of the former Soviet Union . Before the declaration of independence of the State of Israel in 1948, the various now-Mizrahi Jewish communities did not identify themselves as a distinctive Jewish subgroup, and instead many characterized themselves as Sephardi Jews as they largely followed the Sephardic customs and traditions of Judaism (with some differences in minhagim between particular communities). The original Sephardi Jewish community was formed by the Jewish diaspora population in the Iberian Peninsula ( Spain and Portugal ), from where they were exiled in 1492 ; the exodus from Spain led many Sephardim to settle in areas where Mizrahi communities already existed. These phenomena have resulted in a conflation of terms, particularly in official Israeli ethnic and religious terminology, with Sephardi being used in a broad sense and including Middle Eastern Jews, North African Jews, as well as Sephardim proper from Southern Europe around the Mediterranean Basin . Per a decree by the authority of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel , any rabbis of Mizrahi origin in Israel are under the jurisdiction of the order of Sephardi chief rabbis. Following the First Arab–Israeli War , over 850,000 Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews were expelled or evacuated from Arab and Muslim-majority countries from 1948 until the early 1980s. As of 2005 , 61% of Israeli Jews were of full or partial Mizrahi/Sephardi ancestry, while in a 2015–2016 study 45% of Jewish Israelis identified as such. Jewish Population by Country 2021 website "Mizrahi Jews" . " "The Invention of the Mizrahim." Journal of Palestine Studies" .

Jews of the East Not to be confused with Mizraim . Ethnic group History Communities Population Denominations Orthodox Modern Haredi Hasidic Reform Conservative Karaite Reconstructionist Renewal Science Haymanot Humanistic Culture Languages Hebrew Biblical Mishnaic Medieval Modern Bukharian Ghardaïa Sign Jewish Koine Greek Judeo-Arabic Judeo-Aramaic Judeo-Berber Judeo-Gascon Judaeo-Georgian Judaeo-Iranian Judeo-Italian Judeo-Malayalam Judaeo-Spanish Judeo-Tat Knaanic Shassi Yeshivish Yevanic Yiddish Zarphatic Politics Category Portal v t e Mizrahi Jews ( Hebrew : יהודי המִזְרָח ), also known as Mizrahim ( מִזְרָחִים ) in plural and Mizrahi ( מִזְרָחִי ) in singular, and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or Edot HaMizrach ( עֲדוֹת־הַמִּזְרָח , lit. ' Communities of the East ' ), are terms used in Israeli discourse to refer to a grouping of Jewish communities that lived in the Muslim world . Mizrahi is a political sociological term that was coined with the creation of the State of Israel . It translates as "Easterner" in Hebrew. The term Mizrahi is almost exclusively applied to descendants of Jewish communities from North Africa , Central Asia , West Asia , and parts of the North Caucasus . This includes Iraqi Jews , Iranian Jews , Bukharian Jews , Kurdish Jews , Afghan Jews , Mountain Jews , Georgian Jews , and the small community of Bahraini Jews . The aforementioned groups are believed to derive their ancestry in large part from the Babylonian captivity . Yemenite Jews are also Mizrahi Jews, though they differ from other Mizrahim, who have undergone a process of total or partial assimilation to Sephardic law and customs . Syrian Jews , Egyptian Jews , Tunisian Jews , Moroccan Jews , Algerian Jews , and Libyan Jews (also known as Musta'arabi Jews or Maghrebi Jews ) are often labeled as Mizrahim, though these groups largely merged with the mass arrival of Sephardic Jews from the Iberian peninsula, following their expulsion in the late 15th century from Spain and Portugal. Magrebi is an Arabic term which translates to "Westerners." Indian Jews ( Cochin Jews and Bene Israel ) are sometimes labeled as Mizrahi, though members of the community have identified themselves as a separate category, as South Asian. These various Jewish communities were first officially grouped into a singular identifiable division during World War II , when they were distinctly outlined in the One Million Plan of the Jewish Agency for Israel , which detailed the methods by which Jews of the diaspora were to be returned to the Land of Israel (then under the British Mandate for Palestine ) after the Holocaust . An earlier cultural community of southern and eastern Jews were the Sephardi Jews . Before the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, the ancestors of various current communities of Mizrahi Jews did not identify themselves as a distinctive Jewish subgroup, and many considered themselves Sephardis, as they largely followed the Sephardic customs and traditions of Judaism with local variations in minhagim . The original Sephardi Jewish community was formed in Spain and Portugal , and after their expulsion in 1492 , many Sephardim settled in areas where older Jewish communities already existed. This complicated ethnography has resulted in a conflation of terms, particularly in official Israeli ethnic and religious terminology, with Sephardi being used in a broad sense to include Mizrahi Jews, as well as Sephardim proper from southern Europe around the Mediterranean Basin . The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has placed rabbis of Mizrahi origin in Israel under the jurisdiction of the Sephardi chief rabbis. Following the First Arab–Israeli War , over 850,000 Mizrahi and Sephardi Jews were expelled or evacuated from Arab and Muslim-majority countries between 1948 and the early 1980s. A 2018 statistic found that 45% of Jewish Israelis identified as either Mizrahi or Sephardic . The Wellspring of Georgian Historiography: The Early Medieval Historical Chronicle The Conversion of Katli and The Life of St. "Between East and the Middle East: The Integration Story of the Indian Jewish Community in Israel" . jstribune . There were earlier plans to bring specific groups, such as the Yemenites, but the "one million plan" was, as Shenhav says, "the zero point", the moment when the category of Mizrahi Jews in the current sense of this term, as an ethnic group distinct from European-born Jews, was invented." katzcenterupenn.