The Ashkenazi Jews of Switzerland

The Ashkenazi Jews of Switzerland, numbering approximately 18,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Jewish ethnocultural community originating in medieval Central Europe and later concentrated in Eastern Europe, historically linked by Yiddish language, shared ancestry, and distinctive religious and cultural traditions. They mostly adhere to Judaism and Eastern Yiddish is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Ashkenazi Jew

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Jewish Peoples
Country: Switzerland
People Cluster: Jews
Primary Language(s): Eastern Yiddish (ydd)
Primary Religion(s): Judaism
Population: 18,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000593

Pray for the Ashkenazi Jews of Switzerland

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Judaism
Religious Affiliation: Judaism

—
%
Judaism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Eastern Yiddish
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Yiddish, Eastern Speakers

Media Resources in Eastern Yiddish:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Eastern Yiddish:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Einspruch✓

1 entry

Or check out the Eastern Yiddish bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Ashkenazi Jews:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Ashkenazi Jews of Switzerland

Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.
readGenesis 22:8

Pray that God will open the ears of those who are lost to understand and believe that only shed blood takes away sin and that, like Abraham, they will believe that God Himself provides the lamb for the burnt offering, who is Jesus the final, perfect sacrifice.

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
read1 John 4:21

Pray that the good news of God's love will reach everyone in this people group, and that His love will compel them to love others as Christ has loved us.

In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
readPsalm 56:10-11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the Lord's promises, knowing that He will uphold them with His righteous right hand.

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”
readActs 17:32

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures wisdom and discernment as they engage in spiritual conversations with those who are curious about the gospel.

Jew, Ashkenazi Across Countries (ROP3 - 104247) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

11 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi JewsGermany8,600Unengaged and UnreachedEastern YiddishJudaism
Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi JewsSwitzerland18,000Unengaged and UnreachedEastern YiddishJudaism
Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi JewsGeorgia3,000Engaged yet UnreachedEastern YiddishJudaism
Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi JewsHungary48,000Engaged yet UnreachedEastern YiddishJudaism
Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi JewsMoldova3,800Unengaged and UnreachedEastern YiddishJudaism
Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi JewsPoland3,200Unengaged and UnreachedEastern YiddishJudaism
Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi JewsAzerbaijan18,000Unengaged and UnreachedEastern YiddishJudaism
Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi JewsKazakhstan1,400Unengaged and UnreachedRussianJudaism
Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi JewsTurkmenistan800Unengaged and UnreachedEastern YiddishJudaism
Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi JewsCanada13,500Engaged yet UnreachedEastern YiddishJudaism
Ashkenazi JewsAshkenazi JewsUnited States192,000Engaged yet UnreachedEastern YiddishJudaism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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