Why do they call Mizrachi Jews Sephardim?

[ChabadKahanist]

Sephardim are jews from Spain & Portugal.
Middle Eastern Jews are Mizrachim or Eidot HaMizrach.
So why are they all lumped together as Sephardim?
Yemenites get insulted if you call them Sephardim & say gruffly that they are Teimanim if you call them Sephardim.

[Tag-MehirTzedek]

The major center and influence was in and from Spain. After the expulsion from Spain many individuals and especially many of the Hachamim came from Spain.

[kyel]

I think its because some Mizrachi Jews have a history of coming from Spain like the Moroccans or the Syrians (I read a study before that Syrian Jews are actually more genetically related to Ashkenazim than any other Middle Eastern Jewish group)

[Israel Chai]

Most Jews know Sephardi are dark and Ashkenazi are white, so they just call them one or the other.

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

Sephardim are jews from Spain & Portugal.
Middle Eastern Jews are Mizrachim or Eidot HaMizrach.
So why are they all lumped together as Sephardim?
Yemenites get insulted if you call them Sephardim & say gruffly that they are Teimanim if you call them Sephardim.

Probably because MANY Jews from Spain and Portugal ended up in Middle eastern countries generations later and mixed in with eidot hamizrach communities there.  Of ccourse not true for all.  That and because people don't care to be so specific with labels.

[Every Jew AK47]

Sephardim are jews from Spain & Portugal.
Middle Eastern Jews are Mizrachim or Eidot HaMizrach.
So why are they all lumped together as Sephardim?
Yemenites get insulted if you call them Sephardim & say gruffly that they are Teimanim if you call them Sephardim.

To me, Mizrachi Jews are the Jews of the Middle East that dwelled within the Arabic countries.

The Sefardim Jews are the Jews of Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Morocco, Turkey as well as some other countries in Eastern Europe.   As far as Mizrachi Jews, the only Mizrachi Jews in Europe woudl be the Bukharian Jews who immigrated to Europe from the Middle East and ended up in Kazakhstan.

I have never heard of Teimani Jews referred to as Sefardi.  They are always considered the heart of Mizrachi culture and the most ancient and untouched of the Mizrachi Jewish cultures.

There is considerable difference in the facial features and culture of the Sefardim and Mizrachi.  If anything, the Sefardic Jews look much closer to Ashkenazi than to Mizrachi.   As a matter of fact, my brothers and my father could easily pass as Sefardic Jews and have many more of the Sefardic features than even some Sefardim I meet, who almost seem to have some Ashkenazi features. 

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

To me, Mizrachi Jews are the Jews of the Middle East that dwelled within the Arabic countries.

The Sefardim Jews are the Jews of Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Morocco, Turkey as well as some other countries in Eastern Europe.   As far as Mizrachi Jews, the only Mizrachi Jews in Europe woudl be the Bukharian Jews who immigrated to Europe from the Middle East and ended up in Kazakhstan.

But you should be aware that many Sephardic Jews ended up in Middle eastern countries, especially after the expulsion from Spain!  Also I don't see why Morocco and Turkey are not considered by you to be Middle East (or arabic for that matter)...

[ChabadKahanist]

But you should be aware that many Sephardic Jews ended up in Middle eastern countries, especially after the expulsion from Spain!  Also I don't see why Morocco and Turkey are not considered by you to be Middle East (or arabic for that matter)...

Turks are not Arabs but Moroccans are.

[muman613]

My good Sephardic friends family ended up in Egypt till the 1960s...

[Every Jew AK47]

But you should be aware that many Sephardic Jews ended up in Middle eastern countries, especially after the expulsion from Spain!  Also I don't see why Morocco and Turkey are not considered by you to be Middle East (or arabic for that matter)...

Morocco and Turkey are not Arab countries, nor did I say they were, hence why I was explaining the presence of Sefardic Jews, not Mizrachi Jews in these countries.. If you read closely at what I wrote.

The Sefardic Jews may have dispersed to the Middle East, but they are a different ethnic group of Jews then the Mizrachi Jews who inhabited those regions before them.  It is like Ashkenazi Jews in Brazils.  Ashkenazi and Sefardim both immigrated to Brazil, but they were two different ethnic groups that migrated to the same country.  Even the USA, we have Ashkenazi, Sefardim, Mizrachi and Bukharian (who are Uzbeki Mizrachi Jews).

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

Turks are not Arabs but Moroccans are.

That's true but don't they also speak arabic in addition to Turkish?

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

Morocco and Turkey are not Arab countries, nor did I say they were, hence why

You said middle east though

[Every Jew AK47]

Turks are not Arabs but Moroccans are.

Not 100% true.. Actually true Moroccans are Berbers, who are totally unrelated and from a completely different ethnic group than Arabs.  If anything, Berbers could share more in common with Spaniards and some others with Tuareg and other ethnic groups of North Africa than Arabians.   Morocco actually is still a minority Arab and a majority Berbers.  There is even a large resistance movement to overthrow Arab rule in Morocco.   I believe pure Arabs are only 20-30% of ethnic group in present day Morocco, with the remaining being native Amazigh (Berber) people.  As with many other regions of North Africa, Europe, Middle East, these lands were invaded and conquered by the Islamic Arab tribes during the time of the Arabian Conquests.  The same can be said about Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and even Persia, which eventually threw out the Arab invaders and formed their own unique Shia Persian identity to counter the Arabic influence of the region.

You said middle east though

Sorry, I lost you...  I wrote that Sefardic Jews are spread out through Southern Europe, North Africa and Middle East..    I didn't say they are present in Arabian nations.  That would be the Mizrachi Jews. There may have been Sefardim who settled there, but they would not be any significant portion of the population.    The most prominent Sefardic coutries were Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Morocco.   Turkey also later hosted a good portion of the Sefardic population as a result of the Spanish Jews fleeing in the Inquisition.   However, the majority population of Sefardic Jews in Turkey where mainly immigrants from Europe.   Morocco actually has a mix of Sefardim and Mizrachi who both immigrated to the country from various regions.  Many Sefardic Jews in Spain also fled to Morocco during the time of Inquisition.

[Kahane-Was-Right BT]

Morocco and Turkey are not Arab countries, nor did I say they were, hence why I was explaining the presence of Sefardic Jews, not Mizrachi Jews in these countries.. If you read closely at what I wrote.

The Sefardic Jews may have dispersed to the Middle East, but they are a different ethnic group of Jews then the Mizrachi Jews who inhabited those regions before them.  It is like Ashkenazi Jews in Brazils.  Ashkenazi and Sefardim both immigrated to Brazil, but they were two different ethnic groups that migrated to the same country.  Even the USA, we have Ashkenazi, Sefardim, Mizrachi and Bukharian (who are Uzbeki Mizrachi Jews).

Right but when mixed in those countries for centuries they did not stay segregated to maintain distinct ethnic groups (which would have been dumb anyway).  By looking at someone you have no idea if he's sephardic or mizrahi and neither really does he unless he specifically knows the whole family history or knows specifically that his family was at one point in spain or relatives speak ladino but even then languages spread.