Where I live in Israel, you have many Jews from many different backgrounds. You have German Jews "Yekim," Hassidic Jews (mostly from Poland/Ukraine), and you have Yeminite Jews "Teymanim."

Each of these groups has its own stereotype when it comes to punctuality. Yekim are notorious for not understanding what the phrase "To arrive late" means. They almost always arrive on time, and the times that they are not on time, they are early. Hassidic Jews are notorious for always being fashionably late "about an hour or so." Teymanim? Don't even dream of them arriving on time. If they arrive only half an hour late, they will think they arrived way to early...

Now many people will say, you shouldn't have these stereotypes about others. But the truth of the matter is that these stereotypes happen to be very true!

I have a friend that got married recently and sent out three different invitations. The "yekim" received an invitation that said the wedding would start at 7:30, everyone else received 6:30, but the "Teymanim" received 6:00. And you know what? Almost all the guests arrived at around 7:00.

And that's what I call, a story of perfect timing!

Leppi, that does remind me of one of the strangest complaints I ever heard. I was in Israel when I heard a New York Jewish man saying that the trouble was that "these people aren't Jewish enough". But he didn't mean they were not religious enough: his complaint was that he couldn't get proper service,anything done on time. He obviously meant that they were not as he saw himself and the Jews back home , fast and efficient go-getting types. That was how he had imagined all Jews were : more Jewish!

Perhaps he was dealing with Teymanim

I were a member of the Yekim, I would be offended by your post. Stereotyping a group based on the actions of a few does not equate to that racial stereotype being true. This is no different than saying all Arabs are terrorists or all Jews are cheap.

I thought Leppi's observation on the punctuality of different Jewish groups was quite funny. No different to say, comparing the cooking skills of different nations..we know where the British rank on that one!
I am one of those people that is notorious for being late. I'm late for everything; weddings, funerals, baptisms. I've missed flights, trains (more times than I can count), ferries. I have also been given invitations for dinner parties that are half an hour earlier than everyone else, I am ashamed to say. It's not that I don't care about being somewhere on time, it's just a combination of social anxiety, and that I get distracted, I guess, and don't manage my time very well.

While I agree with clarebear's reaction to stereotyping in general; it can too easily be used in an insensitive and hurtful way, we need to recognize the subtle difference in dancegirl's example. We all feel comfortable exchanging mild insults with our friends. The difference is obvious to everyone except the bigots. What distinguishes between the two is whether or not the recipient detects an undercurrent of love or prejudice. IMHO. We all know that some Brits are gourmet cooks. There are just damn few of them compared to the French.

Clare, I doubt any yekim are offended by this post. In fact, most yekim I know, hold it as a matter of pride that they are never late! I don't think it is at all similar to saying that all Arabs are terrorists or that all jews are cheap.

I dont think you can generalize that to all yekim!