Ashkenazi or Sephardic?

[Guest shiloh357]

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.

Hey Bib,

The only thing I can tell you is to have a geneaology performed. You might want to hire a proffessional geneaologist to do it, as they have access to records the ordinary person wouldn't have. You would need to provide as much information as you can, anything like birth certificates on grandparents & death certificates, if you know what cities in Europe they lived in and even in what parts of the cities, etc. The more specific you can be, the easier it will be for the geneaologist, and that of course means, less expensive for you. That, I think is your best bet, assuming you have no living relatives that can provide the relevant information. Your only other option that I can see is to literally go to Europe yourself and look these things up, which would cost almost as much as hiring someone else, so it would be six of one, half a dozen of the other.

You would be surprised what kind of historical information a geneaology can unearth.

[Guest shiloh357]

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?

Names are limited in value because Jewish people have either changed to very common names when imigrating to the US, or you have a case of Jewish children being adopted by Gentile parents and taking on a Gentile surname. I know Jewish people with surnames like Cooper, Cook, Bennett, etc. They take names that in no way resemble Rosenblatt, Mandelstein, Lichtenstein, or Sossenbaum.

Information that is more useful (and I realize that you don't have access to this at present) is traditions in the family, for example, types of foods that were eaten, or or quaint expressions used in conversation, peculiar cooking methods, and so forth. If you are familiar with Jewish tradition, certain things just stand out and are easily recognized. Also, if you can find out if they lived in an area that had a high Jewish population, that would be useful as well.

[viajero]

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.

Hupo, the few times I have been to Israel, I have been told that many of the Russians immigrants have come in on forged documents, saying they were of Israeli descent. What is your opnion?

[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.

Hupo, the few times I have been to Israel, I have been told that many of the Russians immigrants have come in on forged documents, saying they were of Israeli descent. What is your opnion?

What has my opinion got to do with facts? This is either true or not and I don't know.

I can assume that there are those who used the immigration to Israel as a cover for something else. That is the way the world works and we're no different in this sense.

The demographic issue is very valid and so whoever is in charge up there should make sure that no one is misusing the immigration act.

Blessings in Him

[viajero]

Hupo, the few times I have been to Israel, I have been told that many of the Russians immigrants have come in on forged documents, saying they were of Israeli descent. What is your opnion?

[hupo]

Hupo, the few times I have been to Israel, I have been told that many of the Russians immigrants have come in on forged documents, saying they were of Israeli descent. What is your opnion?

What has my opinion got to do with facts? Th

Maybe I didn't mean opinion, I just thought that you living there would understand more of what's really going on.

Well, living here gives me more local news but whether that news is true or not, is anyone's guess.

I would guess that there are some who falsify their ID's but I have less faith in the media being true to facts and objective

The country has been going through a very corrupt stage and the leaders of this trend are the leaders of the country: President, Prim-Minister, head of the treasury department, and so on down the line. I wouldn't be surprised if any immigration law breaking is backed by certain individuals "up there"

Bible talks about times like this and we will have to take the concequences...........

Blessings

[John Bernall]

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.

wow this was a long long time ago, but boredom has run its course and i must do something....

When the Sephardim went to the great northwest, into Alaska, we became God's Frozen Chosen. we didn't wear our Tallit the same as when we lived in Spain, we wrapt it around like a muffler and made warm-fuzzy t'philin for our prayers, and a kippah of woven wool with ear-flaps. no more were we designated Sephardim... we became Alaskanazik

Z'ev Yochanan