[Avodah] ashkenaz and sefard

[Eli Turkel]

: The usual claim is much stronger. That ashkenaz ie German Rhineland
: Jewry actually came there from Italy and that Italian 800 CE Jews came
: there from EY.

Much of them. Not all. My understanding is that Ashkenaz is understood
to be a richer mix of EY Jews than Sepharad. Not exclusivity. This is
why RGMhG links back to the gaonim.>>

We have historical records of the request of kings of the holy Roman empire
to the kalonymus family of Lucca to move to Germany. It seems they founded
the community in Mainz. Of course it does not mean that later other Jews from
other communities did not join. It certainly does not deny possible
communications
between the community in Mainz and the gaonite in Bavel.

I was reading a sefer recently decrying the modern ashkenazi influence
on sefardi
customs. I found the argument quite silly. All communities have had multiple
sources. Almost no community has been immune to outside influences unless
they were physically cutoff from the rest of the world. One of the
greatest sources
of modern mutusal influence is the Rosh moving to Spain. Over the next some
200 years his family's traditions affected sefardi customs and vice versa.
One interesting point is that the Rosh lists major differences between ashekenaz
and sefard. customs. He does NOT list any differences in pronunciation!


-- 
Eli Turkel