<div>>From: "Michael Elzufon" <<a href="mailto:Michael@arnon.co.il">Michael@arnon.co.il</a>><br>>Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:18:41 +0200<br><br>>What is the source for the claim that Ashkenazi practice came from Eretz
<br>>Israel and Sephardi practice came from Bavel? My impression has always<br>>been the opposite.</div>
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<div>I read somewhere (I forget where) that the Sepharadim got their practice from the Geonim - just look at the Rif and the Rambam. Whereas the Ashkenazim got their practice from Israel through Italy. Where did you see this claim? Because I forgot where I saw it (but it's a nice thing to say to Sepharadim in Israel when they claim to be minhag Eretz Yisrael :)
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<div>Of course, if this were the case, the Ashkenazim would follow the Talmud Yerushalmi, I would think. So there must be more to it. But I don't know any more.</div>
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<div>I just took a look at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazim#Background_in_the_Roman_Empire">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazim#Background_in_the_Roman_Empire</a>. Very interesting. B'kitzur, it says that the Jews of Israel and the Mediterranean lasted a few centuries, and it is possible the Germanic invasion of Western Europe in the 5th century opened that area up to Jews. So this confirms what I say above. But the question that remains is, why don't Ashkenazim follow the Yerushalmi?
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<div>A possible answer: The next section of the article states, "The vast majority of Jews in the world now lived in Islamic lands", and the very top of the article says that Ashkenazi Jews in the 11th century were only 3% of world Jewry. If so, it is possible that the overwhelming majority Sephardi culture simply wiped out much of the Ashkenazi practices. Especially any Sepharadi merchants or rabbis who went to Europe, likely would have impressed the riches of Gaonic-Sephardi learning. This could have occurred at a very early date, maybe even in the 5th through 7th or 8th centuries (I'm using numbers loosely), leaving plenty of time for divergence between Ashkenazim and Sephardim by the time of Rambam and Rashi/Tosafot. This would especially explain how Ashkenazim had their own minhagim and derech limud of Gemara but weren't so different as to follow the Yerushalmi or follow the Bavli but not the Gaonim, for example. But I'm just conjecturing.
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<div>Mikha'el Makovi</div>