We (the Ashkenazim) often think we define the Anglo-Jewish community. There are so many of us and the Anglo-Jewish culture is based on Ashkenazi life. The Chief Rabbi is chosen by the United Synagogue, thus assuring Ashkenazi supremacy over the community.
But don't tell that to the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in Maida Vale. When I say that praying there was like stepping back 300 years in time, I mean it as a compliment. The synagogue (not a shul, which is a Yiddish word!) is ornate yet friendly, steeped in tradition yet full of forward-looking people. Everyone in the community effuses pride in their unique heritage.
Sephardi Jewry predates mainstream Ashkenazi Jewry in the United Kingdom by many years and although it no longer forms the majority of the Jewish community, it is still very significant - think Bevis Marks, Moses Montefiore, Disraeli, Naima JPS, the SKA (Sephardi Kashrut Authority) and of course, Kingsmill bread.
But what fascinates me about this community is that it has managed to avoid many traps that the Ashkenazi world has fallen into. In the Sephardi community, people are much more traditional. They may not keep Shabbat or other laws, but they will still identify strongly with Judaism and have certain religious standards. They do not seem to have the same polarisation we have seen in the Ashkenazi world, where it is moving towards all-or-nothing Judaism. As someone who believes in halachic Judaism, my point is not to advocate mediocrity, rather to appreciate the fact that people do not feel disenfranchised from their faith by not doing certain laws.
The children learn to read Hebrew! One of the reasons is that the children are so involved in the service, often leading Pesukei D'zimra (which can take over an hour!) and also because every prayer is chanted as opposed to mumbled quietly, as in Ashkenazi shuls. I have met many Ashkenazi children who go through fourteen years of Jewish schooling and at the age of 18 cannot read a sentence in Hebrew. Why is this?
In the synagogue, people wear top hats. Not for status symbols, like so many in the Ashkenazi world, rather just for honour. Some do, some don't - but there is no politics associated with the wearing of a hat, and it certainly does not define their religious level. Indeed, there is much less of a concept of 'frum' and 'non-frum' in the Sephardi world. There is no Sephardi Reform or Progressive. There is Sephardi Judaism, period.
These are but a few of things we can learn from our Sephardi brethren. Don't get me wrong, there are faults and good points about both communities, and I am certainly proud to be Ashkenazi with all the traditions it entails. But I do think that we should look around in the Jewish people and try and learn from all segments of society. To learn from the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation would be a good start.