The Honorable Sephardim

What Ashkenazis can learn about honor from their Sephardi brethren

By Rafael Castro

Jews of all shades of religious observance, from Shlomo Sand to Amira Hass to Peter Beinart to Neturei Karta, view it as a special, righteous mission to openly support the declared enemies of the Jewish people. I have long been intrigued by this phenomenon of Jews and Israelis voluntarily endangering their coreligionists and compatriots by denouncing Judaism and Zionism. In trying to find an answer to this seeming paradox, one aspect jumped out at me—the overwhelming majority of Jews who engage in rituals of self-denunciation are from Ashkenazi cultural backgrounds, while virtually none are Sephardim.

Many observers have attributed the Ashkenazi Jewish propensity for self-flagellation to the prestige and influence of leftist, secularist, or universalist ideas. I believe this explanation is unsatisfactory. These “Un-Jews,” as Natan Sharansky and Gil Troy have called anti-Zionist Jews, are a product of the unique history and cultural influences that shaped Ashkenazi Judaism, and are largely absent in Sephardic Judaism. Among the Ashkenazim, at various places and times in Europe being an “Un-Jew” often paved a path to assimilation and higher social status. But for the Sephardim, who lived by and large, outside the secularist assimilationist passions of Europe, greater exposure to Arab-Muslim culture and its emphasis on the concept of "honor," made self-disrespect unappealing. 

The origins of this sense of honor, which we can understand as an ironclad commitment to preserving one's reputation and the dignity of one’s family and community, can be traced back to societies where warrior classes and aristocratic elites held significant power and influence. Diaspora Jews, denied political power for almost 2000 years, had no endogenous reasons to cultivate this ethos. Particularly, in Eastern Europe, where this ethos of honor was strongest in Ashkenazi lands, Jews were often insular and had excellent reasons to despise and reject the Gentile military-aristocratic ethos in which honor played a role of paramount importance. For Ashkenazi Jews reeling from pogroms and blood libels, assimilation of surrounding social norms and values was not just difficult, but would have paved the way for assimilation. There are exceptions, of course, such as the secular Odessa-born Ze'ev Jabotinsky, whose emphasis on the value of hadar - encompassing self-respect, cultural excellence, physical fitness, nationalistic aspirations, and assertiveness - reflected the chivalrous spirit he had assimilated from 19th century Czarist Russian culture. But for Ashkenazi Jews throughout history, honor was neither useful nor highly valued.

Sephardic Jews on the other hand, tended to be far more immersed in surrounding Gentile culture. Not just in medieval Andalusia, but also in the Ottoman Empire and in the areas of North Africa and the Middle East where Jewish communities secured the protection of European colonial powers. These historical developments, together with the fact that Islamic ethics value militarism more than Christianity, contributed to honor playing a more important role in the Sephardic ethos.

We can see these differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews playing out across contemporary politics. The Sephardic Iranian Jewish leadership, for instance, has never written for a Western newspaper the kind of anti-Israel screed that regularly appear on English-language Israel-baiting platforms. This is so, despite the rewards they would secure and the dangers they would avert within Iran for doing so. In addition, the Neturei Karta rabbis from New York and London who in the past traveled to Tehran to shake hands with President Ahmadinejad, were snubbed by the local Jewish community. 

Jorge Iacobsohn, the founder of leading Spanish language platforms about Middle East politics and Jewish culture highlighted anti-Israel Sephardic intellectuals like Professors Avi Shlaim and Ella Shohat who appear to refute my thesis. However, I highlighted that neither of these intellectuals has published op-eds or open letters denouncing Israel, the way Haaretz columnists do every day. Indeed Haaretz, despite its vaunted egalitarian progressive ethos, has an overwhelmingly Ashkenazi staff and very few Sephardic journalists. 

Ashkenazi Judaism, in its single-minded pursuit of intellectual rigor and clarity, has bred brilliant intellectuals of unsurpassed integrity and creativity. But the value placed on intellectualism, with its numerous benefits, also comes at the expense of competing values. For instance, the idea that the pursuit of abstract truth should take precedence over loyalty and obligation to one’s immediate family, has no place in an honor culture.

There are examples of European Jews cultivating an “honor” tradition, but these typically are exceptions that prove the rule. In order to avenge antisemitic sleights, late 19th century Viennese Jews became such skilled fencers that antisemites refused to duel them knowing they would most likely lose. The pretext these antisemites formulated for their cowardice was that "Jews have no honor to defend, since they have no honor in the first place."

Paradoxically, the kernel of truth in this slander resides in the fact that while Ashkenazi Jews readily fought duels to avenge the sleights and slander of Gentiles, among Jews themselves such duels were invariably settled in court. 

An exploration of the distinct roles and interpretations of honor within Sephardic and Ashkenazi communities thus reveals crucial cultural differences. By highlighting an aspect of Sephardic culture that plays a pivotal role in protecting the good name and reputation of the Jewish state, this piece will hopefully contribute to raising awareness of Sephardic virtues which, beyond the culinary and musical sphere, are not always acknowledged in Israeli and Ashkenazi circles.

Furthermore, a greater appreciation for Sephardic values could promote the peace and security of Israel. By shifting away from a predominant reliance on Ashkenazi cultural and psychological perspectives in contemporary diplomatic and political decision-making, there is a potential to safeguard the Jewish State from costly strategic misjudgments while defending its interests in the Middle East.

Rafael Castro is a Berlin-based independent political analyst. Born in Italy, Rafael graduated from Yale and holds graduate degrees from Hebrew University and the Freie Universität. His writings about Middle Eastern politics and the Jewish world have appeared in Ynetnews, The Jerusalem Post, Arutz 7, and the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. He can be reached at rafaelcastro78@gmail.com.