Ashkenazic

Ashkenazic refers to Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities of the Rhineland and Central and Eastern Europe, and to the cultural and religious traditions associated with those communities. The term is used to describe people, practices, and liturgical rites characteristic of Ashkenazi Jewish life, and is commonly contrasted with Sephardic and Mizrahi traditions.

The name derives from Ashkenaz, a term found in medieval Jewish sources that came to denote German-speaking and later Central and Eastern European Jewry. Ashkenazic communities formed in the Rhineland during the early Middle Ages and expanded through migration to Poland, Lithuania, and nearby areas, where distinctive legal authorities, poetry, and scholarship developed.

Culturally and religiously, Ashkenazic Judaism is associated with the nusach (liturgical rite) known as Nusach Ashkenaz, the use of the Yiddish language in daily life and culture, and a history of rabbinic scholarship and print culture. Ashkenazic practice also includes a wide range of customs and interpretations that have evolved over centuries, including responses to local conditions and interactions with surrounding societies.

In the contemporary world, Ashkenazi Jews constitute a major portion of Jewish communities in Israel, North America, and elsewhere. The term can describe ancestry, religious practice, or a broad set of cultural traditions. Within Judaism there is significant diversity among Ashkenazi communities, and many individuals identify with multiple heritages, reflecting intermarriage and ongoing cultural exchange with Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews.