Oriental Jews

Mizrahi Jews, Mizrahim (Hebrew: .mw-parser-output .script-hebrew,.mw-parser-output .script-Hebr{font-size:1.15em;font-family:'Ezra SIL','Ezra SIL SR','Keter Aram Tsova','Taamey Ashkenaz','Taamey David CLM','Taamey Frank CLM','Frank Ruehl CLM','Keter YG','Shofar','David CLM','Hadasim CLM','Simple CLM','Nachlieli','SBL BibLit','SBL Hebrew',Cardo,Alef,'Noto Serif Hebrew','Noto Sans Hebrew','David Libre',David,'Times New Roman',Gisha,Arial,FreeSerif,FreeSans}מִזְרָחִים‎), also referred to as Edot HaMizrach (עֲדוֹת-הַמִּזְרָח; 'Communities of the East'; Mizrahi Hebrew: ʿEdot(h) Ha(m)Mizraḥ), Bene HaMizrah ('Sons of the East'), or Oriental Jews, are descendants of local Jewish communities in the Middle East and North Africa from biblical times into the modern era. They include descendants of Babylonian Jews from modern Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan, Syrian Jews, Yemenite Jews, Georgian Jews, Mountain Jews from Dagestan and Azerbaijan, Persian Jews from Iran, Bukharan Jews from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. It also includes Maghrebi Jews from Tunisia, Algeria, Libya and Morocco who lived in North Africa prior to the arrival of Sephardim. The term Mizrahim is sometimes applied to descendants of Maghrebi and Sephardi Jews, who had lived in North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco), the Sephardi-proper communities of Turkey, and the mixed Levantine communities of Lebanon, Palestine, and Syria. 'Mizrahi' is literally translated as 'Oriental', 'Eastern', מזרח Mizraḥ, Hebrew for 'east'. In the past the word 'Mizrahim', corresponding to the Arabic word Mashriqiyyun (Easterners), referred to the natives of Kurdistan, Iraq and other Asian countries, as distinct from those of North Africa (Maghribiyyun). In medieval and early modern times, the corresponding Hebrew word ma'arav was used for North Africa. In Talmudic and Geonic times, however, this word 'ma'arav' referred to the land of Israel, as contrasted with Babylonia. For this reason, many object to the use of 'Mizrahi' to include Moroccan and other North African Jews.Today, many identify all non-Ashkenazi rite Jews as Sephardi - in modern Hebrew 'Sfaradim', mixing ancestral origin and religious rite. This broader definition of 'Sephardim' as including all, or most, Mizrahi Jews is also common in Jewish religious circles. During the past century, the Sephardi rite absorbed the unique rite of the Yemenite Jews, and lately, Beta Israel religious leaders in Israel have also joined Sefardi rite collectivities, especially following rejection of their Jewishness by some Ashkenazi circles.The reason for this classification of all Mizrahim under Sephardi rite is that most Mizrahi communities use much the same religious rituals as Sephardim proper due to historical reasons. The prevalence of the Sephardi rite among Mizrahim is partially a result of Sephardim proper joining some of Mizrahi communities following the 1492 Alhambra Decree, which expelled Jews from Sepharad (Spain and Portugal). Over the last few centuries, the previously distinctive rites of the Mizrahi communities were influenced, superimposed upon or altogether replaced by the rite of the Sephardim, perceived as more prestigious. Even before this assimilation, the original rite of many Jewish Oriental communities was already closer to the Sephardi rite than to the Ashkenazi one. For this reason, 'Sephardim' has come to mean not only 'Spanish Jews' proper but 'Jews of the Spanish rite', just as 'Ashkenazim' is used for 'Jews of the German rite', whether or not their families originate in Germany.In the Arab world (such as Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria), Mizrahim most often speak Arabic, although Arabic is now mainly used as a second language, especially by the older generation. Most of the many notable philosophical, religious and literary works of the Jews in Spain, North Africa and Asia were written in Arabic using a modified Hebrew alphabet.Some Mizrahim migrated to India, other parts of Central Asia, and China. In some Mizrahi Jewish communities (notably those of Yemen and Iran), polygyny has been practiced.