Sephardic Haredim to support its position. Sephardic Haredim differ from their Ashkenazi counterparts in a number of significant ways. The central differentiating factor is that Sephardic Haredim follow the rulings and customs of their rabbis, which are rooted in the traditions of the Jews formerly from the Islamic world. Additional differences exist on issues such as political allegiance, as the vast majority of Sephardic Haredim are identified with Shas, while most Ashkenazi Haredim are identified with either United Torah Judaism or, to a lesser extent, HaEdah HaChareidis. Sephardic Haredim as a community tend to be moderately supportive of Zionism, while maintaining a
Religion in Europe Bahá'ís and a Soviet government policy of oppression of religion resulted in Bahá'í communities in 38 cities across Soviet territories ceasing to exist. However the religion recovered in both countries. The religion has generally spread such that in recent years the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated the Bahá'ís in European countries to number in hundreds to tens of thousands. The majority of Europeans describe themselves as Christians, divided into a large number of denominations. Christian denominations are usually classed in three categories: Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism (a diverse group including Lutheranism, Calvinism and Anglicanism as well as numerous minor