Jews from the East in the End of the West: Persian and Sephardi/Mizrahi Jews in Los Angeles

• In Event: Ethnic Identity and Identification among MENA-origin Jews in transnational perspectives

Abstract

Los Angeles, long known as the “Ellis Island of the West,” is home to many immigrant communities. Part of this immigrant mix are an estimated 13,000 Persian Jewish households and 20,000 Sephardi/Mizrahi households (that do not identify as Persian). Taken together, these two groups account for 18% of all Jewish households in Los Angeles County.
Using the 2021 Study of Jewish Los Angeles dataset, I show that Persian Jewish households and (non-Persian) Sephardi/Mizrahi Jewish households differ from each other and from the rest of Los Angeles Jewry along multiple dimensions:
1. Persian and Mizrahi Jewish households are equally more likely to live in traditional urban neighborhoods such as Fairfax and Pico-Robertson. Persians are concentrated in Beverly Hills and West Los Angeles while Mizrahi Jews more spread out and more likely to live in the San Fernando Valley and Conejo Valley.
2. More Persian and Mizrahi households speak a non-English language at home than other Jewish Angelenos. Three-quarters of Persian households speak farsi at home. Mizrahi Jews more likely to speak English at home and those who speak a non-English language are divided: 33% speak Spanish, 37% speak Hebrew and 13% speak both Spanish and Hebrew. The association between Mizrahi Jews and Spanish in the home reflects migration roots in Mexico.
3. Persians and Mizrahi belong to synagogues at higher rates than other Angelenos, but Persians have higher rate than Mizrahi household. Persians identify as Orthodox and Conservative to a greater degree than Mizrahi who are more likely to identify as Reform.
4. Persian and Mizrahi households are younger than other Jewish Angelenos, Persians are younger than Mizrahi households. Persian and Mizrahi households are more likely to have children than other Angelenos.

Author

• Bruce Phillips, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion