Ashkenazim and Sephardim

Sephardim originate in the Iberian Peninsula and the Arabic land, and contemporary Ashkenazim are Yiddish-speaking Jews and descendants of Yiddish-speaking Jews.

My Sepharadi friends celebrate Shabbat, and my Ashkenazi friends call it Shabbos. The Sepharadim call a groom a chatan, and the Ashkenazim refer to him as a chosson. To bolster their claim, the Sepharadim evoke modern Hebrew pronunciation, which follows t...

The answer to your question is both and neither. Allow me to explain: Chabad, as well as all other chassidic groups, finds its roots in Eastern Europe, which was the home to much of Ashkenazic Jewry. As such, initially, most of Chabad’s adherents were of ...

Tribal affiliation follows the direct paternal line, while the question of Jewishness follows the maternal line. Does this mean that genetic testing is a valid way of ascertaining whether one is Jewish or a kohen?

I recently had occasion to pray in a Sephardic synagogue, and they kept the Torahs in some kind of ornamental cylindrical case with the scroll in the upright position. Then, when it came time to read the Torah, they simply set it on a flat table and crack...

How can it be that one group of Jews can eat rice on Passover and another group can't? Aren't we all part of the same religion?

Spanish Jewry produced dazzling Torah scholars, poets who wrote some of the most inspiring sacred pieces of the liturgy, philosophers whose writings remain as classic as when they were written, and grammarians who laid down the basic rules of Hebrew.

Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs, chief rabbi of the Netherlands, describes the rich history of the Jewish people in his native country from medieval times until the present day.

The question of whether glassware can be koshered, year-round and especially for Passover, is the subject of debate among the early halachic authorities.

Which is the preferred Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi, Sephardic or other?