Mizrahi Jews usage, with "Sephardi" being used in a broad sense and including Mizrahi Jews and North African Jews as well as Sephardim proper. From the point of view of the official Israeli rabbinate, any rabbis of Mizrahi origin in Israel are under the jurisdiction of the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel. As of 2005, 61% of Israeli Jews were of full or partial Mizrahi ancestry. "Mizrahi" is literally translated as "Oriental", "Eastern", "Mizraḥ", Hebrew for "east". In Arabic, "Misr" means Egypt; and that is also the term used for Egypt in the Bible. In the past the word "Mizrahim", corresponding to
Ethnoreligious group Ethnoreligious group An ethnoreligious group (or ethno-religious group) is an ethnic group whose members are also unified by a common religious background. In general ethnoreligious communities define their ethnic identity not only by ancestral heritage nor simply by religious affiliation but normally through a combination of both. An ethnoreligious group has a shared history and a cultural tradition - which can be defined as religious - of its own. In many cases ethnoreligious groups are ethno-cultural groups with a traditional ethnic religion; in other cases ethnoreligious groups begin as communities united by a common faith which through endogamy developed cultural