Mizrahi Jews

Mizrahi Jews, Mizrahim (Hebrew: מזרחים‎) or Mashriqiyyun (Arabic: الم‍شرقيون‎), also referred to as Edot HaMizrach (עֲדוֹת-הַמִּזְרָח; Communities of the East; Mizrahi Hebrew: ʿEdot(h) Ha(m)Mizraḥ), Ben ha-Mizraḥ; Bene ha-Mizraḥ ("Sons of the East") or Oriental Jews are Jews descended from local Jewish communities of the Middle East. The term Mizrahi is most commonly used in Israel to refer to Jews who trace their roots back to Muslim-majority countries. This includes descendants of Babylonian Jews and Mountain Jews from modern Iraq, Syria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Caucasus, Kurdistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Also, Yemenite, Turkish and Persian Jews are usually included within the Mizrahi Jewish group. The term Mizrahim often consists of Maghrebi Jews, including Sephardic who lived in North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco).

The use of the term Mizrahi can be somewhat controversial. Before the establishment of the state of Israel, Mizrahi Jews did not identify themselves as a separate ethnic subgroup. Instead, Mizrahi Jews generally characterized themselves as Sephardi, because they follow the traditions of Sephardic Judaism (although with some differences among the minhagim of the particular communities). This has resulted in a conflation of terms, particularly in Israel, and in religious usage, where "Sephardi" is used in a broad sense to include Mizrahi Jews and Maghrebi Jews as well as Sephardim proper. Indeed, from the point of view of the official Israeli rabbinate, any rabbis of Mizrahi origin in Israel are under the jurisdiction of the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel. Mizrahi Jews make up the largest ethnic group in Israel, and as of 2005, over 50% of Israeli Jews are of at least partial Mizrahi ancestry.

Mizrachi

Mizrachi or Mizrahi (Hebrew: מזרחי‎, lit. Eastern) may refer to:

People

Mizrachi (political party)

Mizrachi (Hebrew: המזרחי‎, HaMizrahi, an acronym for Merkaz Ruhani (Hebrew: מרכז רוחני‎), lit. Religious Centre) was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Jewish Home Party.

History

The Mizrachi movement was founded in 1902 in Vilnius as a religious Zionist organisation. It also had a trade union, Hapoel HaMizrachi, started in 1921. In the British Mandate of Palestine the movement developed into a political party, HaMizrachi.

For the elections for the first Knesset it ran as part of a joint list called the United Religious Front alongside the Hapoel HaMizrachi, Agudat Yisrael and Poalei Agudat Yisrael. The group won 16 seats, of which the Mizrachi Party took four, making it the third largest party in the Knesset after Mapai and Mapam. It was invited to join the coalition government by David Ben-Gurion.

The United Religious Front played a major part in bringing down the first government due to it disagreement with Mapai over issues pertaining to education in the new immigrant camps and the religious education system, as well as its demands that the Supply and Rationing Ministry be closed and a businessman appointed as Minister for Trade and Industry. Ben-Gurion resigned on 16 October 1950. When the problems had been solved two weeks later, he formed the second government with the same coalition partners and ministers as previously.