10-17-2021, 04:20 AM
Old Sephardi guy from Texas here. Was told of this forum by a friend, so stopped by.
I am new here. 1st post. Not sure of the minhag. So will make an introduction as a beginning.
Our family's roots in Judaism are formed by the intermarriage in America of two groups of refugees who arrived here over 200 years apart.
The first of my family to arrive here in America were Sephardim who made their way to Portugal following the edict of expulsion from Spain. And when faced with the same situation in Portugal a few short years following, made their way Northward through Europe. Settling in the region of Elsass und Lothringen along the French and German border. And when the edict of Nantes granting relative freedom of worship in France to both protestant Christian and Jew alike was revoked, making their way to refuge in the Netherlands. These family members joined the French and English religious separatists and dissidents then living in exile in the city of Leyden. And in the mid-1600s, 3 brothers of my family joined the English separatists sailing to America.
The second group to arrive consisted of 3 brothers, as well. They were Mountain Jews who had traveled Northward from Persia and had settled in the Caucasus region of Eastern Europe in the area of what is now Azerbaijan. These brothers traveled to America in the early 1900s to escape the increasing violence against Jews as Tzarist forces initiated pogroms against them in the years leading up to the Bolshevik Revolution. Mountain Jews are neither Sephardim nor Ashkenazim ethnically, so I believe my ancestors on that side are best described as Mizrahim based upon DNA testing, culture and language.
So I am all these things...... However, I identify as Sephardi because that is the culture and religious tradition that is most predominate within our extended family.
Shalom to all,
Daryavesh
I am new here. 1st post. Not sure of the minhag. So will make an introduction as a beginning.
Our family's roots in Judaism are formed by the intermarriage in America of two groups of refugees who arrived here over 200 years apart.
The first of my family to arrive here in America were Sephardim who made their way to Portugal following the edict of expulsion from Spain. And when faced with the same situation in Portugal a few short years following, made their way Northward through Europe. Settling in the region of Elsass und Lothringen along the French and German border. And when the edict of Nantes granting relative freedom of worship in France to both protestant Christian and Jew alike was revoked, making their way to refuge in the Netherlands. These family members joined the French and English religious separatists and dissidents then living in exile in the city of Leyden. And in the mid-1600s, 3 brothers of my family joined the English separatists sailing to America.
The second group to arrive consisted of 3 brothers, as well. They were Mountain Jews who had traveled Northward from Persia and had settled in the Caucasus region of Eastern Europe in the area of what is now Azerbaijan. These brothers traveled to America in the early 1900s to escape the increasing violence against Jews as Tzarist forces initiated pogroms against them in the years leading up to the Bolshevik Revolution. Mountain Jews are neither Sephardim nor Ashkenazim ethnically, so I believe my ancestors on that side are best described as Mizrahim based upon DNA testing, culture and language.
So I am all these things...... However, I identify as Sephardi because that is the culture and religious tradition that is most predominate within our extended family.
Shalom to all,
Daryavesh