I know exactly what the author of this piece is saying. I am the daughter of a color-blind attorney from the Southern US. Imagine my shock at being told by a new boyfriend after making aliyah that I was "white" and he was "black". (I am Ashkenazi and he is Yemeni). I asked him if he was Jewish and he said "sure I am". I told him my father wouldn't care if he was purple as long as he was a good man and Jewish. I could not believe that such a thing as racism upon Jews by Jews was being committed until I started hearing more stories about them from friends. It seems that the Ashkenazi rabbis engender these attitudes and they should be ashamed of themselves and held with contempt not admiration for bringing such hatred to these shores.

I report with great sadness that here in India people of different skin colors extremely frequently have a low opinion of people of darker skin colors. Despising darker people is universal, not just in Israel or the US. Of course it is a major failure of the human species. Alas, it does not go away even after our best, most sincere efforts. As a test of our humanity, we fail this test miserably.

So how much of what she says is true, and why do you think she is making this up? I hardly feel that the European Orthodox have a corner on Judaism: only their version of it. They are as bad as the Catholic church in insisting their ways are the only ways. When you build the type of fence around the Torah they do, no one can get to it.

For the interesting article and for your beautiful pic.

Its now long overdue to clear out these evil prejudices against our darker brethren, which are kept alive by the elitist teachings of Haredi cults and Beis Yaacov brainwash. Unfortunately some of the general public also suffers from various forms of prejudice about other ethnicities. Also, the religious public has conveniently forgotten that Moshe Rabenu's wife was dark skinned. And of course the famous "I am black but comely" in Shir Hashirim. Although my skin tone is basically light ,growing up Europe before the huge influx of Indians, Asians and Middle Easterners, I was sometimes labelled "dark" at school, so I know what Tal is talking about. Today I am proud of my Israeli perma-tan which helps me blend in to our multicoloured society.

In my dati-leumi community of Efrat there are hundreds of mixed marriages and no one thinks anything of it, on the contrary. And in my immediate family I have nieces and nephews who have married Yemenite, Kurdish, Iraqi and other Jews and they have produced the most beautiful children imaginable. Maybe this is a problem in the backwards hareidi community where men still think they have no responsibility to support their familiy, but in the National Religious world, these so-called intermarriages are a welcomed blessing to Am Yisrael. Ken yirbu.

Gosh, for a people who suffered at the hand of Nazi racism, i am shocked that such racism is rapant among them.

Your point is well taken in that my experience has been that there is significantly less bias in the dati leumi community than in the ultra-Orthodox or secular communities. Nevertheless, it remains far from "no big deal" in the modern dati community. Those who warned me of the sly, conniving Gypsy-like Teimanim when I was in Tzahal were from the dati leumi community. The distancing of the modern dati community from the Teimanim remains blatant and conspicuous. Here's an experiment you should carry out: analyze all of those "mixed marriages" (?!?) from Efrat and elsewhere and document how many resulting families follow their Teimani, Bavli or Sepharadi tradition versus how many abandoned their heritage to fit into the Ashkenazi box. Shabbat Shalom. Paqid Yirmeyahu Israeli Orthodox Jew Advancing Logic as Halakhic Authority Welcoming Jews & non-Jews www.netzarim.co.il

We,the religious/army crowd have no time for such nonsense. Send your kids to the army Ms Farkash,(Bnei Braq sadly,not Efrat) and all these silly problems will disappear. And/Or move somewhere else. So simple.

Ms Farkash. On reading this article I can but wonder about your responsibility as a grown up . Having been in such situations myself I have taken the effort to speak to the parents so they could rectify the situation. Your inability to do so and yet spout it all off in public is a sign of immaturity. A mature person would not have left little children still holding the wrong ideas. A mature person would do something to help foster understanding instead of seemingly taking pleasure being able to tarnish anothers a reputation. Please think in future and take responsible steps to help your brothers and sisters.

Its bad enough that dibs ape all the worst aspects of America, but if you want to practice racial McCarthyism , get your definitions correct. Since Polish and Yemeni Jews are the same race, bigotry between thme ias axiomatically NOT RACISM! Consult a dictionary next time.

what reuven said was a JOKE. he was using HUMOR. that is what we HUMANS like to do. what are you, some kind of mr spock vulcan-type who doesn't know what to do when you hear a joke? true, it is highly ILLOGICAL to rationally process a joke, but lighten up for a change. it's one thing to be a self-hating goy, but a non-semite weighing in on semitic issues is an "internal issue" for them, as you put it, so don't try to be THE expert on everything you're not, for a change.

Hi Tali Welcome to the Club. I'm a member of this club since my arrival to Israel in 1974, when I did become a Romanian. Being an adult did help a bit but the label is still there. The above statement is not supposed to diminish the good things my arrival in Israel did generate. Theo Ghefner

WHAT COULD WE ACCOMPLISH IN THIS WORLD FOR ITS BENEFIT ??? THE SAD TRUTH IS THAT WE LIVE IN DARWINS WORLD WE ARE A RACE OF THINKERS NOT CONQUERERS WHAT TO DO ???

My error

So take your own advice. I'm an Orthodox Jew in good standing, as anyone familiar with the Israeli Orthodox community who reads my messages over time could see by familiarity with the Israeli Orthodox community, from the inside -- much to the consternation of various anti-religious, seculars, Xns, homosexuals and the like who slander, often from afar and clearly with no idea -- as well as a "goy immigrant." I know Reuven was making a joke, dimwit. That's why it was flippant and dismissive. He probably recognizes it and is man enough to deal with it. You, by contrast, are just a goy immigrant trying to discredit a person who exposes the falseness of your anti-rabbinic -- probably Xn supporting -- assertions. Paqid Yirmeyahu Israeli Orthodox Jew Advancing Logic as Halakhic Authority Welcoming Jews & non-Jews www.netzarim.co.il

two arms two legs two hands two feet a torso a head etc etc bloody hell, everyone has so much in common and some people are so concerned with skin colour and facial features? what a complete waste of time

BSD God abhors intra-Jewish racism as seen in the Biblical requirement that entire communities shoulder responsibility for the discovery of a single dead wayfarer of unidentified origins; culminating in an entire community, lead by communal leaders, breaking a calf's neck and expiating collective guilt. World Jewry comprises a myriad of groups – including societies and social sectors – that continually recreate nursery school "in and out bellybutton clubs" in order that one group attain dominance over other groups. Beyond engendered, rampant, personal hurt clearly chronicled by Tali Farkash, intra-Jewish racism plays a significant roll in historic world Jewish tragedies; including the Shoah where fortunate groups of Jews failed to extend, and sabotaged, efforts to aid unfortunate Jewish groups. The tragedy of intra-Jewish racism continues to snowball from the nursery school level and is evident in the ongoing lionization and tragic internecine warfare associated with the expulsion and destruction of Gush Katif and the violence in Amona. Intra-Jewish racism, rampant in Jewish communities here and throughout the Diaspora, remains a leading cause of our 2000 years in exile.

" Why today when there are only 12 million of us left in the world, are theories of better or worse races still come out of our mouths and seep into our hearts?" Sin is sin is sin is sin............in all of us....sigh.....

Isn't a little bit of "racism" helpful? asks abdullah. and i wonder, why does he come across as a shloyme zalmen in costume rather than a adbullah!

as a member of the only lilywhite ashkenazi shul in ahmedabad, I must agree with sid in. this is a problem we all share. hey it's not so nice, but some are worse than others. no? don't you think? in any case, our shul here outdoes all racists and all cast discrimination . (we are then among the worse). no wonder, we are aryans too!

if you are sefardi, i am a kugelager! but hey! louder! IF YOU ARE A SEFARDI, I AM A KUGELAGER!

This debate is totally outdated, as sephanazim (or ashkeradim) will quickly outnumber pure bred pink or chocolate Jews. The humn bomb danger is the same for all.

will never happen with any regularity since the cultural differences are far too strong. Even Judaism will not keep them together.

I'm not sure, but I believe that in the Torah it was only the daughters that had inherited a portion in the land that were asked not to marry into other tribes and thus lose the land for their tribe. And I think I read that it was only the particular instance discussed. Anyway, I don't think that's relevant to the discussion at hand. As has been said and repeated in the talkbacks, we're all one people. There are enough non-Jews coming out against us. At least let's pull together. (Mixing cultures, whether within families or groups of friends, makes for wonderful meals!)

a jew an arab hasidic boy girl man woman male female black white brown Yemenites Ashkenazi Shephardi color eyes Tribe javascript:; What can anyone answer ????

Black White, you hearts are black and evil ! Be human first !

Ehud Olmert - Ashkenazi extrordinaire!

the ashkenazim have a lot of chutzpa discriminating against the sephardim (the real jews). At best the Ashkenazim are a watered down mixed multitude with intermarriages and conversions in their past. Hasidism, black hats, their rebbes have nothing to do with judaism but more of their trying to grasp a heritage that's been lost..Look at a sephardic...a healthy true jew who's judaism is his first skin. I'm single and no way no how will i ever marry an ashkenaz...bunch of frauds!