Jewish ethnic divisions

Okay, so imagine that you and your friends all live in the same town, but you all have different backgrounds. Some of your friends may have parents or grandparents who came from different countries or cultures, and that makes your group really diverse.

Well, Jewish people are kind of like that too – they all have a common ancestry, but over time they have lived in many different places and have developed different traditions and customs based on where they came from.

So, just like you might have friends from different backgrounds, Jewish people have different groups within their religion based on their ancestry and geographic origins. For example, some Jews come from Eastern Europe and have what is known as Ashkenazi ancestry, while others come from Spain and Portugal and have Sephardic ancestry.

These different groups can have different languages, foods, and even styles of worship, but at the end of the day they are all part of the same Jewish community. Understanding and respecting these different divisions is important for keeping the Jewish community strong and diverse.