Ashkenazi Jews

Ashkenazi Jews

אַשְׁכְּנַזִּים‎ (Ashkenazim)
Ashkenazi Jews (photo taken by the American Colony Photo Dept. between 1900 and 1920)
Total population
10[1]–11.2[2] million
Regions with significant populations
United States	5–6 million[3]
Israel	2.8 million[1][4]
Russia	194,000–500,000; according to the FJCR, up to 1 million of Jewish descent
Argentina	300,000
United Kingdom	260,000
Canada	240,000
France	200,000
Germany	200,000
Ukraine	150,000
Australia	120,000
South Africa	80,000
Belarus	80,000
Brazil	80,000
Hungary	75,000
Chile	70,000
Belgium	30,000
Netherlands	30,000
Moldova	30,000
Italy	28,000
Poland	25,000
Mexico	18,500
Sweden	18,000
Latvia	10,000
Romania	10,000
Austria	9,000
Turkey	7,000
New Zealand	5,000
Colombia	4,900
Azerbaijan	4,300
Lithuania	4,000
Czech Republic	3,000
Slovakia	3,000
Ireland	2,500
Estonia	1,000
Languages
Predominantly spoken: Hebrew (Ashkenazi Hebrew, liturgical) English Russian and other Indo-European languages Traditional: Yiddish[5]
Religion
Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, other Jewish ethnic divisions and Samaritans; various Middle Eastern and European ethnic groups

Ashkenazi Jews (/ˌɑːʃkəˈnɑːzi, ˌæʃ-/ A(H)SH-kə-NAH-zee;^[6] also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim^[a]) constitute a Jewish diaspora population that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE.^[8] They traditionally speak Yiddish,^[8] a language that originated in the 9th century,^[9] and largely migrated towards northern and eastern Europe during the late Middle Ages due to persecution.^[10][11] Hebrew was primarily used as a literary and sacred language until its 20th-century revival as a common language in Israel.

Ashkenazim adapted their traditions to Europe and underwent a transformation in their interpretation of Judaism.^[12] In the late 18th and 19th centuries, Jews who remained in or returned to historical German lands experienced a cultural reorientation. Under the influence of the Haskalah and the struggle for emancipation, as well as the intellectual and cultural ferment in urban centres, some gradually abandoned Yiddish in favor of German and developed new forms of Jewish religious life and cultural identity.^[13]

Throughout the centuries, Ashkenazim made significant contributions to Europe's philosophy, scholarship, literature, art, music, and science.^{[14][15][16][17]}

As a proportion of the world Jewish population, Ashkenazim were estimated to be 3% in the 11th century, rising to 92% in 1930 near the population's peak.^[18] The Ashkenazi population was significantly diminished by the Holocaust carried out by Nazi Germany during World War II which killed some six million Jews, affecting almost every European Jewish family.^[19][20] In 1933, prior to World War II, the estimated worldwide Jewish population was 15.3 million.^[21] Israeli demographer and statistician Sergio D. Pergola implied that Ashkenazim comprised 65–70% of Jews worldwide in 2000,^[22] while other estimates suggest more than 75%.^[23] As of 2013^[update], the population was estimated to be between 10 million^[1] and 11.2 million.^[2]

Genetic studies indicate that Ashkenazim have both Levantine and European (mainly southern European) ancestry. These studies draw diverging conclusions about the degree and sources of European admixture, with some focusing on the European genetic origin in Ashkenazi maternal lineages, contrasting with the predominantly Middle Eastern genetic origin in paternal lineages.^{[24][25][26][27][28]}

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