One of the topics that seems to come up frequently when discussing the Jewish problem is the notion that there is some sort of substantive difference between Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews.  Often times, people say we should be blaming Ashkenazi Jews and not just Jews in general for many of society’s problems.  After spending a little bit of time researching this issue, it is perplexing to me as to why so much time and energy is spent on this subject.  In the context of the Jewish problem, the difference between Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews is largely irrelevant.

According to the Jewish Virtual Library, Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews both follow the ideological foundation outlined in the Talmud.  In other words, both groups believe the Talmudic nonsense that they are superior and that non-Jews are their slaves.  From a religious perspective Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews seem to differ only in the specific types of customs and symbols they use during their ceremonies.

Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews share the same tenets of Judaism, follow the Babylonian Talmud and the Shulkhan Arukh. Differences arise in customs and in liturgy. For example, on Passover, Sephardic Jews eat kitnyot, rice and corn products. Also, at many Sephardic sedars, the father will reenact the experience of gaining freedom by circling the sedar table and holding a symbolic bag over his shoulder.

Other differences exist in the way Sephardic Jews wind their tefillin straps outwards, whereas Ashkenazi Jews wind the tefillin inwards. Sephardic grooms are honored with an aliyah to the Torah on the Shabbat after their wedding, whereas Ashkenazi grooms are called up to the Torah the Shabbat before the wedding.

Sephardic Torah scrolls are usually stored in a large wooden cylinder, which stands erect when opened. The parchment is in an upright position when read, whereas, Ashkenazi scrolls just have an embroidered cover and the scrolls are read while lying flat on a table.

Sephardic liturgy uses the same basic prayers, but add different psalms and poems. The prayer, Ein Keloyheinu, is recited at the Saturday morning services for both Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews, however, it is also read daily by Sephardic Jews. Sephardim also use a different cantillation for reading the Torah and different melodies for prayers. All Sephardic synagogues are traditional, women are seated separately, typically in a balcony.

Today, Sephardic Jews are considered to be the descendants of the Jews who were exiled from Spain and Portugal in the late 1400s.  Many of these exiled Jews eventually fled to areas in the Netherlands, North Africa and the Ottoman Empire.

Ashkenazi Jews are considered to be Jews whose ancestors came from areas in Central and Eastern Europe.

Even though Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews originated from different locations, a number of studies have indicated that both Jewish communities share similar genetics.  The Jew York Times even ran a report on this subject a few years ago.  It states the following.

That is the conclusion of two new genetic surveys, the first to use genome-wide scanning devices to compare many Jewish communities around the world.

A traitorous rat, Spain’s Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, has announced that Spain owes a great debt to the Sephardic Jewish community, and is thus going to put any Sephardic Jew who wants citizenship in Spain on the fast-track to get it.

The Sephardi were expelled from Spain in 1492 for their rampant, diabolical criminality, and attempts to undermine all of Christian society. What a great idea it is to bring them all back, now that we are in the enlightened age, where we know that it is actually a good thing to be subverted and destroyed by Jews.

From Ynet:

“The law we’ve passed today has a deep historic meaning: not only because it concerns events in our past of which we should not be proud, like the decree to expel the Jews in 1492, but because it reflects the reality of Spain as an open and plural society,” said Gallardon.

Around 300,000 Jews lived in Spain before the ‘Reyes Catolicos’, Catholic monarchs Isabella and Ferdinand, ordered Jews and Muslims to convert to the Catholic faith or leave the country.

[…]

The law potentially allows an estimated 3.5 million residents of countries where many Sephardic Jews eventually settled, such as Israel, France, the United States, Turkey, Mexico, Argentina and Chile, to apply for Spanish nationality.

“We’re very pleased to hear the Spanish government has facilitated the process of allowing Sephardic Jews to seek Spanish nationality without giving up their citizenship,” Lynne Winters, director of the American Sephardi Federation in New York told Reuters by telephone.

How romantic!

Such joy the Spanish people must feel, knowing that their ancient blood enemy, who too centuries to expel, is now being invited back into their nation.

Nicolas Maduro defends Caracas’s policies toward Israel, says his grandparents were Sephardic Jews who converted to Catholicism

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has dismissed accusations that his country’s ties with Iran are fostering anti-Semitism in Latin America, explaining that Caracas is critical of Israel’s policies, not the Jewish people.

In an interesting twist, Maduro, the political successor of the late president Hugo Chávez, told the press last week that he himself was descended from Sephardic Jewish ancestors. Maduro and his predecessor, Chávez, have widely been regarded as anti-Semitic, in part for their close relations to Iran, vocal criticism of Israel, and rough treatment of Venezuela’s Jewish population.

Maduro, from the United Socialist Party, is a former bus driver and union leader. He was a member of Chávez’s inner circle and previously held the posts of vice president and minister of foreign affairs. He assumed the day-to-day responsibilities of the presidency after Chávez’s death, and then won the top spot by a small margin in April, defeating Henrique Capriles, the governor of Miranda, who is the Catholic grandson of Holocaust survivors.

“My grandparents were Jewish, from a [Sephardic] Moorish background, and converted to Catholicism in Venezuela… The mother of [Minister of Communication and Information] Ernesto Villegas also comes from a similar background,” Maduro said last week, according to Aporrea, a Venezuelan news portal supportive of Chávez’s socialist platform and reform initiatives.

“I’m sorry to hear about the statements made by Claudio Epelman, director of the Latin American Jewish Congress, who I know and have received many times, saying that there’s anti-Semitism in Venezuela and implicating Chávez and me in it,” Maduro said.

“He can accuse me, but he should leave Chávez out of it,” he added.

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