If you have ever heard of these two words when speaking about Judaism, Ashkenazic and Sephardic, but were never quite sure what they meant, this will be a simple explanation.
Ashkenazic Jews are the Jewish people and ancestors who came from France, Germany, Russia, and Eastern Europe. Sephardic Jews are the Jewish people who came from Spain, Portugal, North Africa and the Middle East. Sephardic Jews are often subdivided into Sephardim, from Spain and Portugal, and Mizrachim, from the Northern Africa and the Middle East.
Ashkenazic Jews have certain customs and traditions that are different from Sephardic Jews.
For example, the practice of reading Hebrew and the pronunciation of certain letters and vowels are different. I always joke and say that the Ashkenazic way of reading Hebrew is with a “New Yawk” accent. Since the vowel of “ah” is pronounced “ah” by Sephardics and Ashkenazic pronounce the vowel “aw.”
I was taught to read Hebrew the Sephardic way BUT my father, who was the only one who could help me practice my Hebrew reading, was raised Ashkenazic. So whenever he would help me, we just ignored the differences since the majority when reading Hebrew is the same.
Besides the Hebrew reading, there are different traditions. For instance, during Passover, Sephardic will eat rice, corn, beans, and peanuts (Kiniyot) while Ashkenazic will not.
My mother’s family is Sephardic as they came directly from Spain. Although I was exposed to both Ashkenazic and Sephardic traditions, my family chose to incorporate both sides, while leaning more towards the Sephardi ways.
Today, I continue to practice Judaism the Sephardic way and have taken on my grandmother’s traditions.