How did communities of Ashkenazim differ from communities of Sephardim?

Answer 1

Ashkenazic and Sephardic are the two most famous of four major rites in Judaism (the other two being Mizrahi and Sabra). Each rite is equally religiously valid, but has different customs that define it. Since most people believe that the Mizrahi rite (which has many more adherents) is a subset of the Sephardic rite, I will consider them together as the Sephardic Rite. (There are slight cultural differences, but these are far less than what separates these two groups are from the other two.)

Religious differences between the two groups are small and never theological. One commonly cited difference between the Ashkenazim and Sephardim is that Ashkenazim consider rice to be khametz (חמץ) which means that it is not permissible to eat during Passover; while the Sephardim do not consider rice to be khametz and eat it during Passover. The melodies while praying are different and there are one or two prayers that one group does and the other does not and vice versa.

In terms of sociological and historical differences, there are a few more.

The Mizrahi Jews were recognized and protected; and anti-Semitism in the Arab world, while pervasive, was not very strong. It led to some pogroms and violence on a much smaller scale than in Europe. Jews in the Arab world were taxed (both by head - jizya, and by land - kharaj). Jews in the Arab world were allowed to choose their professions (although there were professions that Jews tended to take because of lack of Moslem competition, like banking). Several centuries ago, Jews joined the Moslems in a cultural flowering across the Arab world. Rabbis in the Jewish communities in the Arab world corresponded with their counterparts in Europe to reach decisions in Torah jurisprudence. There was an influx from Jewish communities in Europe fleeing persecution who settled in certain very important cities (such as Thessaloniki, Greece, and Fez, Morocco). Overall the change from Arab rule to Turkish rule led to no significant change to the Jewish communities in the Arab world, who were still taxed and relegated to certain neighborhoods.

Since the Ashkenazic Jews existed in numerous jurisdictions and had the onset of European modernity slowly change conditions around them, the following four paragraphs are necessary in order to give a flavor of the different cultural and historical situations of the Ashkenazim.

In the Middle Ages, medieval Christian States began to impose harsh laws on what constituted the Ashkenazic Jewish community but allowed them to practice Judaism openly if they followed these rules. Typically the community would be allowed to live in one neighborhood, called a "ghetto" (after the Venetian neighborhood so designated), under the stewardship of a Kahal (or Jewish Board of Directors). However, the cities allowing Jews to set up these types of neighborhoods and remain unharmed were few and far between, leading many Jews to leave Western Europe and go east to seek sanctuary. In addition, Jews were banned from many occupations, which led them into very specialized fields. Anti-Semitism was pervasive and common, which led to numerous pogroms and religiously incited massacres. Judaism was also defined religiously at this point, which meant that a Jew could convert to Christianity and become accepted like a native-born Christians. But very few Jews chose this option. Rabbis in these kehillot (Kahals) corresponded with their counterparts in the Arab world.

The Eastern European Jewish community, although poor and much maligned by their Christian neighbors, became the largest Jewish community in the world by the 1600s (with numbers roughly equivalent to every other Jewish community region combined). Unburdened with the in-city laws and restriction of territories (they lived outside of the city limits and were farmers as opposed to tradesmen), they began to spread. However, in more recent generations the Eastern European Jewish community began to come under direct fire from European imperial governments seeking to ethnically cleanse themselves of Jews. Anti-Semitism became much more entrenched and institutionalized as the countries of Eastern Europe began to modernize. The 1700s saw the rise of the Orthodox Jewish, Hasidic, and Mitnaged movements, which showcase Jewish spirituality by interpreting the Jewish tradition in interaction with modernity, holistically, and scholastically respectively. (Eventually the Hasidic and Mitnaged movements hybridized to form the modern Hasidic movement.)

The German Jewish community developed and urbanized during the 1700s and 1800s, becoming much more similar to the Western European communities than the Eastern European communities. They dealt with many of the same problems and restrictions that Western European Jews did, but a more tolerant atmosphere in Germany lent itself to the onset of the Jewish Enlightenment or Haskalah in which Jews began to join the modern European discussions on Rights and Freedoms. German Jews asserted that they can be European citizens without giving up their religious background. By the mid-1800s, German Jews had founded what are now known as the Conservative, Reform, and Secular Movements in Judaism.

In the Netherlands, the Jewish community was able to openly practice without discrimination, making Amsterdam a haven for many Jews fleeing Western European persecution. As a result of Amsterdam's freer intermingling, Jews there were also able to participate in the wider phenomenon of modernization.

The modern European states began to integrate Jews more fully in society after the Napoleonic era. This meant that Jews were able to fight in European armies and live wherever they wished. However, there was huge backlash. Anti-Semitism became manifested in new pseudo-scientific forms which claimed that Jews were deficient and that this is what made them different and incapable of being "proper Europeans." This sentiment explains the rise of Zionism as a way for the Jews to create a State that would cater to their interest away from European questions over the possibility of Jewish integration. The anti-Semitism expressed in modern Western and Central Europe was directly responsible for the Holocaust which effectively exterminated the Jewish population in all European countries except the United Kingdom (for obvious reasons).

Answer 2

Ashkenazim are Jews of Eastern European descent, while Sephardim are Jews of Spanish or Middle Eastern descent. Ashkenazim historically spoke Yiddish and had cultural influences from Eastern Europe, while Sephardim spoke Ladino and had cultural influences from Spain and the Middle East. The two groups also had different religious customs and traditions.