Unique Jewish communities worldwide, from Ethiopia to India and China.
Not every Jewish community fits the categories of Sephardi, Mizrahi or Ashkenazi. The Beta Israel of Ethiopia kept a Judaism of their own for centuries. India was home to three distinct communities. The Jews of Kaifeng lived in China for 700 years, and Rome has had Jews since before the time of Julius Caesar. Madagascar has one of the world's newest communities. Each of these communities has its own history, and each met the Sephardi world in its own way: through Baghdadi merchants in Bombay and Shanghai, through Spanish exiles in Italy, and through the Sephardi prayer book in Madagascar.
New to the subject? Start with Who are Sephardic Jews?
The Beta Israel of Ethiopia and the new community of Madagascar.
India's Bene Israel, Cochin and Baghdadi Jews, and the Jews of Kaifeng, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
Italy's Jews, Europe's oldest continuous community, with their own rite alongside Sephardi and Ashkenazi synagogues.
The descendants of the Spanish and Portuguese exiles are on the Sephardic communities page, including Jamaican Jews. The Jews of Iraq, Iran, Yemen and Central Asia are under Mizrahi communities, and the descendants of Iberia's forced converts are under Bnei Anusim.
