Quote:
Originally Posted by Docere
Ancestry of Canadian Jews:
Polish 40%
Russian 37%
Jewish 33%
Eastern European 19%
Romanian 12%
Ukrainian 9%
Lithuanian 8%
Hungarian 8%
German 8%
Austrian 5%
Canadian 4%
British 4%
English 4%
Moroccan 3%
Israeli 3%
French 3%
https://www.environicsinstitute.org/...rsn=5f5a8e4d_2 |
As a member of the tribe, I think the results need further explanation. For example, I'd imagine that the 40% of Canadian Jews who identify as "Polish" probably wouldn't consider themselves ethnic Poles but rather ethnic Jews with roots in Poland. I'd say the same applies to the rest of the classifications except Israeli, maybe Morocco and probably French.
Given Morocco's particular history, it's possible that some Moroccan Jews would, in fact, consider themselves ethnic Moroccans, not merely ethnic Jews of Moroccan descent. Maybe both apply.
Also, French isn't supposed to be an ethnic identity but rather a civic one so that's different too. It would be easier for Jews to identify with a civic French identity than an ethnic one.
I believe more meaningful classifications for Canadian Jews taking an ancestry survey would be:
~ Ashkenazi (Western Europe, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Israel)
~ Sephardi (Western Europe, Southern Europe, Mediterranean Basin, North Africa, Israel)
~ Mizrahi (North Africa and the Middle East, Israel)
~ Israeli (All of the above and even more Jewish classifications or none of the above, depending on the Israeli you're talking to)
~ Jewish (All of the above and even more Jewish classifications)
~ Canadian (All of the above and even more Jewish classifications)
This is all pretty complicated given the long vicissitudes of Jewish history. These types of surveys / censuses almost never capture the complexity behind the numbers. Often they create more confusion, which may be the case here.