Broadening My Understanding of Jewish Identity: The Mizrahi Perspective
Exploring the Mizrahi story revealed a Western-centric lens I hadn’t realised I carried.
Growing up, my first meaningful exploration of Jewish culture came through a radio programme, burned onto two CDs by my friend’s grandfather. His wife, my friend’s grandmother, was Jewish, and in the grandfather’s eagerness to understand her heritage, he resorted to some well-intentioned CD piracy. The programme delved primarily into Ashkenazi and Sephardic traditions, and as I listened, I began piecing together my somewhat fragmented understanding of Jewish identity and history.
At the time, my knowledge was limited but not nonexistent. I knew that Ashkenazi Jews hailed from places like Germany and Eastern Europe, while Sephardi Jews traced their roots to Spain and Portugal. I also understood that Jewish identity, both ethnic and religious, had been shaped in part by external forces, with centuries of persecution leaving an indelible mark. Beyond that, much of my perception came from American pop culture. I loved the sharp wit of comedians like Mel Brooks and Larry David, whose work, while tapping into universal comedic themes, also offered a vivid, predominantly Ashkenazi depiction of Jewish heritage.
The CDs deepened my understanding of the Sephardim in particular. I learned about the 1492 expulsion from Christian Spain and the subsequent persecution of Portuguese Jews, many of whom were forced to convert or flee. While Christendom’s hostility was relentless, some Sephardim found refuge in the Ottoman Empire. There, despite their dhimmi status - a principle in Islamic jurisprudence requiring religious minorities to pay a protection tax - they managed to thrive in a comparatively tolerant environment. I also uncovered surprising Sephardi ties closer to home. Expelled from England by Edward I in 1290, it was predominantly Sephardi Jews who returned when Oliver Cromwell permitted their resettlement in 1656, influenced by rabbi and scholar Menasseh Ben Israel. This enduring legacy of the Sephardim remains visible today in landmarks like Mile End’s Jewish cemetery in East London, where figures such as merchant Benjamin D’Israeli (1730–1816), grandfather of Victorian Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, are laid to rest.
My understanding, however, was far from complete. It was only when I happened upon Lyn Julius’ Uprooted, and later Martin Gilbert’s In Ishmael’s House, that my perspective began to shift. I had, of course, always known Judaism as a Middle Eastern tradition, the oldest of the Abrahamic faiths, but their work revealed a world I had barely considered: the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa, who had lived in these regions since Biblical times. Jewish identity, I was reminded, wasn’t a duality but a tripartite story: Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi. The term Mizrahi, derived from the Hebrew word for ‘Eastern’, refers to the communities that thrived for millennia in places like Iraq, Syria, Palestine, and Yemen. At one time, the Iraqi Jewish community, for instance, numbered some 120,000, with two-thirds residing in Baghdad. Even the name 'Sassoon’, famously associated with figures like WWI poet Siegfried Sassoon and fashion icon Vidal Sassoon, traces its roots to ancient Mesopotamian Jewry.
The scale of this history continued to surprise me. Until the late 1940s, regions like Libya were home to approximately 38,000 Mizrahim, Egypt to nearly 80,000, and Algeria, remarkably, to 140,000. Tragically, this vibrant tapestry began to unravel in the mid-20th century as profound upheavals reshaped the region. The establishment of Israel and escalating regional tensions led to the exodus of some 850,000 Mizrahim from the Arab world, either forced out or compelled to leave. In Cairo, for example, the buildings that now house the Swiss, Canadian, German, Pakistani, South Korean, and Dutch embassies once belonged to Egyptian Jews. These properties were seized, and their histories effectively erased. Today, as a partial outcome of this large-scale migration, Mizrahi Jews form the largest Jewish ethnic group in Israel, comprising 40% to 45% of the population.
Expanding my perspective from a binary view to a more layered understanding of Jewish history, particularly through exploring the Mizrahi story, brought to light a Western-centric lens I had not fully recognised in my thinking. This facet of the broader Jewish narrative serves as a unique bridge between East and West, adding essential context that deepened my appreciation of its richness and complexity. It also highlighted histories often less explored, both in my own perspective and in commonly shared narratives.
Lyn Julius’ Uprooted is available via Vallentine Mitchell Publishers; Martin Gilbert’s In Ishmael’s House is available from Yale University Press.
Before I wrap up, if you’re looking for some cool music rooted in Mizrahi culture, check out trio A-WA (Arabic for ‘Yes’). This spirited Israeli band - sisters Tair, Liron, and Tagel - takes traditional Yemeni folk songs, sung in the Yemeni dialect of Arabic, and blends them with elements of hip-hop, funk, and other influences. Their breakout hit, ‘Habib Galbi’ (‘Love of my Heart’), broke boundaries as the first Arabic song to top the Israeli music charts.
