The Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group with shared origins in the Land of Israel, but Jewish history has unfolded across many different regions over thousands of years. Because of exile, migration, and diaspora, Jewish communities developed distinct ethnic identities while maintaining shared religious traditions, historical memory, and connections to Hebrew, Torah, and Jewish law. As Brenda Foster explains, Jews “have often existed as ‘alien residents’ among other peoples,” which contributed both to their dispersion and cultural diversity. Jewish ethnicity therefore reflects both common origin and regional diversity.

One of the largest and most widely known Jewish ethnic groups is the Ashkenazim. Ashkenazi Jews developed primarily in Central and Eastern Europe, especially in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, and Russia. Their culture is closely associated with Yiddish, a language which originated in medieval Germany, and a strong tradition of rabbinic scholarship. This group is often overrepresented in popular images of Judaism, even though, as scholars note, these images “represent only one Jewish ethnic group — Ashkenazi — of many.” Although Ashkenazi traditions are often treated as the default image of Jewish life, they represent only one branch of a much broader Jewish world.

Another major group is the Sephardim. Sephardic Jews trace their roots to Spain and Portugal, where they experienced a flourishing intellectual and cultural period before the expulsions of the late fifteenth century. After........

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