Ari-free: Are you joking? The average Ashkenazi baal bait DID NOT know Gemara. Period. Where did you get this from?
If anything it it well documented that Sephardim were much more learned, literate, worldly.
Again, when dealing with Ashkenazim we have to realize we’re dealing with a very very short Mesora whereas for Sephardim there is a long unbroken chain. As such the average person was much more equipped intellectually and Torah-wise.
So what are your talking about? We need sources for your claim.
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