Ashkenazi or Sephardic?

[hupo]

I was just wondering how many Jews here were either Ashkenazi or Sephardic. Or..Like me...who has No Jewish blood whatsoever, but is Married to a Jew...who is Ashkenazi or Sephardic.

I married an Ashkenazi by the way.

This is 1.5 years old but it's open so why not....?

One of my daughters married into a family where the father is Ashkenazi and that is his family name. The mother is a Mizrachi which is a very common spharadic name. What this means is anyone's guess except that it gets me nearer to 100 posts so I can join some closed topics

[Guest Biblicist]

Ashkenaz here as well.

To answer Kahlans' question. Ashkenazim are Jews who are descendants of Jews from Germany, Poland, Austria, and Eastern Europe.

Sephardic is a Jew from Spain, Portugal, or North Africa. A Sephardi would also be one whose ancestors were among the Jews expelled from Spain during the Inquisition (1492)

How do you know if your ancestors were Jewish? What if they came to this country and changed their religion and hid their Jewish past? I have family from, Germany, Austria, Romania. . . I have no idea what religion they were. I assume some were Catholic, but only because some of them are Catholic now. But really I don't know.

[hupo]

Ashkenaz here as well.

To answer Kahlans' question. Ashkenazim are Jews who are descendants of Jews from Germany, Poland, Austria, and Eastern Europe.

Sephardic is a Jew from Spain, Portugal, or North Africa. A Sephardi would also be one whose ancestors were among the Jews expelled from Spain during the Inquisition (1492)

How do you know if your ancestors were Jewish? What if they came to this country and changed their religion and hid their Jewish past? I have family from, Germany, Austria, Romania. . . I have no idea what religion they were. I assume some were Catholic, but only because some of them are Catholic now. But really I don't know.

We don't rightly know. This seems to be one of the biggest issues going, well, in Israel anyway.

You see, the basic concept is that Israel is a home for the Jewish people which gives any Jew anywhere, the right to immigrate to this country.

This in turn causes a lot of headache for the authorities as anyone can say he is a Jew and get all the benefits as a new immigrant.

The topic of "Who is a Jew?" is an ongoing issue and is seen as something relevant to our very existance as a state.

Being a Jew is not just relegion. There are many Israelies who are Jews but are anything but religious!

There are research centers that do exactly what you would think one should do in these cases.

They check out family trees, history, legal documents and various citizen lists from every country.

There are arguments about the Russian immigration. Are they all really Jewish or are they just taking advantage of it all?

The Falashmura or Etheopian immigratin pose another hugh debate.

Then of course there is the question: what of a gentile marrying a Jew?

How do we conceder Children born in the country who are of gentile parents?

Big, big, topic ......

[Vickilynn]

Shalom,

Askenazi.

My dad's family was born in Russia, my nana (grandmother) came over when she was a little girl.

My mom's family is from Romania and my bubbe (great-grandmother) came over when she was a young mother.

[Guest Biblicist]

Shalom,

Askenazi.

My dad's family was born in Russia, my nana (grandmother) came over when she was a little girl.

My mom's family is from Romania and my bubbe (great-grandmother) came over when she was a young mother.

Vickilynn, my grandmother, Daddy's mom, came from Romania, their last name was Lohrer. That is all I know about them. Would you happen to know that name?

[Guest Biblicist]

We don't rightly know. This seems to be one of the biggest issues going, well, in Israel anyway.

You see, the basic concept is that Israel is a home for the Jewish people which gives any Jew anywhere, the right to immigrate to this country.

This in turn causes a lot of headache for the authorities as anyone can say he is a Jew and get all the benefits as a new immigrant.

The topic of "Who is a Jew?" is an ongoing issue and is seen as something relevant to our very existance as a state.

Being a Jew is not just relegion. There are many Israelies who are Jews but are anything but religious!

There are research centers that do exactly what you would think one should do in these cases.

They check out family trees, history, legal documents and various citizen lists from every country.

There are arguments about the Russian immigration. Are they all really Jewish or are they just taking advantage of it all?

The Falashmura or Etheopian immigratin pose another hugh debate.

Then of course there is the question: what of a gentile marrying a Jew?

How do we conceder Children born in the country who are of gentile parents?

Big, big, topic ......

The right to immigrate to WHAT country? America? I don't know what country you are in hupo.

I realize that being Jewish is not just a religion, but if you hid the fact that you were Jewish when you immigrated to America who would know? Can you tell by the name, many of my ancestors names have been changed. My Great-Grandfather was Bochmuller, but it was changed when they came here.

I have very little background information on my ancestors when it comes to their religious backgrounds. I only know what my relatives believe now.

[Vickilynn]

Shalom,

Askenazi.

My dad's family was born in Russia, my nana (grandmother) came over when she was a little girl.

My mom's family is from Romania and my bubbe (great-grandmother) came over when she was a young mother.

Vickilynn, my grandmother, Daddy's mom, came from Romania, their last name was Lohrer. That is all I know about them. Would you happen to know that name?

Shalom Bib,

Sorry, I'm not familiar with that name. My bubbe's was Brailen.

[hupo]

The right to immigrate to WHAT country? America? I don't know what country you are in hupo.

I realize that being Jewish is not just a religion, but if you hid the fact that you were Jewish when you immigrated to America who would know? Can you tell by the name, many of my ancestors names have been changed. My Great-Grandfather was Bochmuller, but it was changed when they came here.

I have very little background information on my ancestors when it comes to their religious backgrounds. I only know what my relatives believe now.

It's written right beneath my name. I'm talking about Israel.

There is a whole research going on to finding out who is Jewish and who isn't. As the country is based on Immigration of Jews back to their homeland, it is necesary to determine who is actually Jewish. How they get it right is beyond me but they seem to know what they are doing.

What people do on a personal level, is they go to appropriate countries and check the cemetaries. There is a lot of data there.

[Johni]

I imagine Israel would want to be careful in regards to immigration, all the while trying to get as many Jewish people brought in from the nations as possible. I think I read that the Israeli Jewish population are not having as many children as the Arab Israeli population so they will eventually be voted out of power in their own nation if they do not bring more Jewish people in. But maybe that was an exaggeration, I'm not sure.

[hupo]

I imagine Israel would want to be careful in regards to immigration, all the while trying to get as many Jewish people brought in from the nations as possible. I think I read that the Israeli Jewish population are not having as many children as the Arab Israeli population so they will eventually be voted out of power in their own nation if they do not bring more Jewish people in. But maybe that was an exaggeration, I'm not sure.

No it isn't an exaggeration. This is one of the main concerns of anyone in government office.

Naturally those who "don't quite like us to be around", are doing what they can to change the demographic balance.