Do all/ most Americans think that

amother

Sat, Jan 16 2021, 11:59 pm

Whoever speaks Hebrew is sfardi?
We are a hebrew speaking family that lives in America. I have gotten so many comments or roundabout comments where people thought we were sfardi. Comments like " wow, none of your kids look sfardi (gee well, why would they if we aren't sfardi?) or "you're lucky, you can eat rice on pesach". Nothing against sfardim, but I'm really wondering if most Americans think that hebrew speaking=sfardi...

amother

Hotpink

Sun, Jan 17 2021, 12:02 am

I think that they're Israeli.
Maybe it depends on the community/neighborhood?

amother

Pumpkin

Sun, Jan 17 2021, 12:03 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

That is weird and ultra narrow-minded. Most people know Israeli does not equal Sefardi

amother

Smokey

Sun, Jan 17 2021, 12:09 am

No they're just ignorant lol
People say dumb stuff to us everyday too (we are actually sefardi and speak hebrew at home but no relation!)

zaq

Sun, Jan 17 2021, 12:17 am

No, most Americans assume that speakers of Ivrit are Israeli without analyzing from which "edah." If they think that Israelis of Ashkenazic descent speak Ivrit with Ashkenazic pronunciation as they do in the US, they're just plain ignorant.

shirachadasha

Sun, Jan 17 2021, 12:18 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Especially because not all sfardim eat rice on Pesach.

amother

Burgundy

Sun, Jan 17 2021, 12:23 am

I'm totally guilty of that. I grew up with 3 neighbors who spoke hebrew and are sephardic. When I see someone that is darker and speaking Hebrew I automatically assume they are sephardi.

chaya007

Sun, Jan 17 2021, 1:32 am

No. I have many Israeli family members, not religious. All are Ashkenazi.

amother

Blue

Sun, Jan 17 2021, 5:22 am

That's weird. Maybe there is something else that makes them think that?

Maybe you look Sephardic even if your kids don't? Or your last name sounds Sephardic? Erc

Simple1

Sun, Jan 17 2021, 7:22 am

amother [ Blue ] wrote:

That's weird. Maybe there is something else that makes them think that?

Maybe you look Sephardic even if your kids don't? Or your last name sounds Sephardic? Erc

They may be confusing the Israeli accent with the Srfardic havara.

amother

Bisque

Sun, Jan 17 2021, 7:29 am

shirachadasha wrote:

Especially because not all sfardim eat rice on Pesach.

And lots of Israeli dati leumi Ashkenazim do eat rice on Pesach.

yo'ma

Sun, Jan 17 2021, 8:27 am

Reminds me of people asking me in Argentina if I was Israeli while I was speaking in english. Can't Believe It

professor

Sun, Jan 17 2021, 8:36 am

Many people assume that ashkenazi will speak yiddish, even if they live in israel. So automatically if you speak hebrew you're sefaradi. Rolling Eyes

amother

Pewter

Sun, Jan 17 2021, 9:52 am

Born and raised in America but I have an Israeli parent so I speak Hebrew fluently. We are all Ashkenazi. Nobody has ever assumed otherwise, as far as I can tell. People have asked if I went to a school that has a heavy emphasis on Ivrit (I did). But really, I just grew up totally bilingual. My Israeli parent always spoke to us in Hebrew while my American parent spoke to us in English, so we just grew up with two native languages.