Sephardi Jews (Hebrew: סְפָרַדִּי, Sfaraddi Səp̄āraddî) is a general term referring to the descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jews who lived or live in the Iberian Peninsula. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy, or would otherwise define themselves in terms of Jewish customs and traditions from the Iberian Peninsula. Accordingly, the term Sephardic Jew refers to Jews who follow Sephardic Halakha.
The term essentially means "Spanish". It comes from Sepharad (Hebrew: סְפָרַד, Sfarád Səp̄āráḏ), a Biblical location. This location is disputed, but "Sepharad" was identified by later Jews as the Iberian Peninsula, and still means "Spain" in modern Hebrew.
In other languages and scripts, "Sephardi" translates as plural Hebrew: סְפָרַדִּים, Sfaraddim Səp̄āraddîm; Spanish: Sefardíes; Portuguese: Sefarditas; Catalan: Sefardites; Basque: Sefardiak; Galician: Sefardís; Italian: Sefarditi; Greek: Σεφαρδίτες Sephardites; Bulgarian: Сефаради Sefaradi; Bosnian: Sefardi; Serbian: Сефарди Sefardi; Turkish: Sefarad, Judaeo-Spanish: Sefaradies/Sefaradim; and Arabic: سفارديون Safārdiyyūn.
Read more about Sephardi Jews: Definition, Divisions, Sephardim and Mizrahim, Distribution, Language, Names, Congregations, Leading Sephardi Rabbis, Genetics, List of Nobel Laureates
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