Eighth Reading Response

It was very interesting learning about the linguistic and cultural divides that existed between the different Jewish communities located in both the Middle East and Europe. Previously, I was under the impression that Jewish people would have spoken the most common language from where they resided and Hebrew (with a few exceptions where Yiddish was preferred). I had never heard of some of the languages that were mentioned in the reading. I am still confused by what exactly is the defined separation between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews. I thought that Sephardic Jews were those who hailed from the Iberian peninsula, but apparently Sephardic Jews are also Jewish people whose ancestors lived in North Africa? I would appreciate some clarification regarding this definition. 

Learning more about how Arab Jews dealt with defining their identity would make for an interesting topic to continue researching. I would like to see statistics (if they even exist) showing the breakdown of how may Arab Jews supported the creation of Israel and how many were either opposed or found it to be unnecessary. I could easily see how opinions could develop in both directions. Those who practiced Judaism were certainly in the minority in the Middle East and couldn't possibly be blamed for wanting to have a state of their own in order to achieve a sense of security.On the other hand, I could also understand the opposite opinion. If an individual found his or her Arab identity to be the most important then the creation of a Jewish state wouldn't have been seen as a necessary political development.