Litvaks
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 Lithuania | 2,800[1] |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherAshkenazi Jews Belarusian Jews,Russian Jews,Latvian Jews,Ukrainian Jews,Estonian Jews,Polish Jews | |
| Part ofa serieson |
| JewsandJudaism |
|---|
Litvaks(Yiddish:ליטװאַקעס) orLita'im(Hebrew:לִיטָאִים) areJewswith roots in the territory of the formerGrand Duchy of Lithuania(covering present-dayLithuania,Belarus,Latvia,the northeasternSuwałkiandBiałystokregions ofPoland,as well as adjacent areas of modern-day Russia andUkraine). The term is sometimes used to cover allHaredi Jewswho follow anAshkenazi,non-Hasidicstyle of life and learning, whatever their ethnic background.[2]The area where Litvaks lived is referred to in Yiddish asליטעLite,hence theHebrewtermLita'im(לִיטָאִים).[3]
No other Jew is more closely linked to a specifically Lithuanian city than theVilna Gaon(inYiddish,"the genius ofVilna"), Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon Zalman (1720–1797), to give his rarely used full name, helped make Vilna (modern-day Vilnius) a world center for Talmudic learning.Chaim Grade(1910–1982) was born in Vilna, the city about which he would write.
The inter-war Republic of Lithuania was home to a large and influential Jewish community whose members either fled the country or were murdered whenthe Holocaust in Lithuaniabegan in 1941. Prior toWorld War II,the Lithuanian Jewish population comprised some 160,000 people, or about 7% of the total population.[4]There were over 110synagoguesand 10yeshivasin Vilnius alone.[5]Census figures from 2005 recorded 4,007 Jews in Lithuania – 0.12 percent of the country's total population.[6]
Vilna (Vilnius) was occupied by Nazi Germany in June 1941. Within a matter of months, this famous Jewish community had been devastated with over two-thirds of its population killed.[clarification needed]
Based on data by Institute of Jewish Policy Research, as of 1 January 2016, the core Jewish population of Lithuania is estimated to be 2,700 (0.09% of the wider population), and the enlarged Jewish population was estimated at 6,500 (0.23% of the wider population). The Lithuanian Jewish population is concentrated in the capital, Vilnius, with smaller population centres includingKlaipėdaandKaunas.
Etymology[edit]
TheYiddishadjectiveליטווישLitvishmeans "Lithuanian": the noun for a Lithuanian Jew isLitvak.The termLitvakitself originates fromLitwak,aPolishterm denoting "a man from Lithuania", which however went out of use before the 19th century, having been supplanted in this meaning byLitwin,only to be revived around 1880 in the narrower meaning of "a Lithuanian Jew". The "Lithuania" meant here is the territory of the formerGrand Duchy of Lithuania.
Of the mainYiddish dialectsin Europe, theLitvishe Yiddish(Lithuanian Yiddish) dialect was spoken byJewsin Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia and northeastern Poland, including Suwałki, Łomża, and Białystok.
However, following the dispute between the Hasidim and theMisnagdim,in which the Lithuanian academies were the heartland of opposition to Hasidism, "Lithuanian" came to have the connotation of Misnagdic (non-Hasidic) Judaism generally, and to be used for all Jews who follow the traditions of the great Lithuanian yeshivot, whether or not their ancestors actually came from Lithuania. In modern Israel,Lita'im(Lithuanians) is often used for allHarediJews who are notHasidim(and notHardalimorSephardic Haredim). Other expressions used for this purpose areYeshivisheandMisnagdim.Both the wordsLitvisheandLita'imare somewhat misleading, because there are also Hasidic Jews from greaterLithuaniaand many Litvaks who are not Haredim. The termMisnagdim( "opponents" ) on the other hand is somewhat outdated, because the opposition between the two groups has lost much of its relevance.Yeshivisheis also problematic because Hasidim now make use ofyeshivotas much as the Litvishe Jews.
Ethnicity, religious customs and heritage[edit]
The characteristically "Lithuanian" approach toJudaismwas marked by a concentration on highly intellectualTalmudstudy. Lithuania became the heartland of the traditionalist opposition toHasidism.They named themselves "misnagdim"(opposers) of the Hasidi. The Lithuanian traditionalists believed Hassidim represented a threat to Halachic observance due to certain Kabbalistic beliefs held by the Hassidim, that, if misinterpreted, could lead one to heresy as per theFrankists.[7]Differences between the groups grew to the extent that in popular perception "Lithuanian" and "misnagged"became virtually interchangeable terms. However, a sizable minority of Litvaks belong(ed) toHasidic groups,includingChabad,Slonim,Karlin-Stolin,Karlin (Pinsk),Lechovitch,AmdurandKoidanov.With the spread of theEnlightenment,many Litvaks became devotees of theHaskala(Jewish Enlightenment) movement inEastern Europepressing for better integration into European society, and today, many leading academics, scientists, and philosophers are of Lithuanian Jewish descent.
The most famous Lithuanian institution of Jewish learning wasVolozhin yeshiva,which was the model for most later yeshivas. Twentieth century"Lithuanian" yeshivasincludePonevezh,Telshe,Mir,Kelm,andSlabodka,which bear the names of their Lithuanian forebears. American "offspring" of the Lithuanian yeshiva movement includeYeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin,Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary,Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yisrael Meir HaKohen( "Chofetz Chaim" ), andBeth Medrash Govoha( "Lakewood" ), as well as numerous other yeshivas founded by students of Lakewood's founder, RabbiAharon Kotler.
In theoretical Talmud study, the leading Lithuanian authorities wereChaim Soloveitchikand theBriskerschool; rival approaches were those of the Mir and Telshe yeshivas. In practicalhalakha,the Lithuanians traditionally followed theAruch HaShulchan,though today, the "Lithuanian" yeshivas prefer theMishnah Berurah,which is regarded as both more analytic and more accessible.
In the 19th century, the Orthodox Ashkenazi residents of the Holy Land, broadly speaking, were divided intoHasidimandPerushim,who were Litvaks influenced by theVilna Gaon.For this reason, in modern-day IsraeliHarediparlance the termsLitvak(noun) orLitvisher(adjective), or inHebrewLitaim,are often used loosely to include any non-HasidicAshkenaziHaredi individual or institution. Another reason for this broadening of the term is the fact that many of the leading Israeli Harediyeshivas(outside the Hasidic camp) are successor bodies to the famous yeshivot of Lithuania, though their present-day members may or may not be descended from Lithuanian Jewry. In reality, both the ethnic make-up and the religious traditions of themisnaggedcommunities are much more diverse. Customs of Lithuanian non-Hasidic Jews consist of:
- Wearing oftefillinduring non-sabbath days of the intermediate days of the festivalchol hamoed.
- Variations in pronunciation (not practiced by most modern-day Litvaks)
- The pronunciation of theholamas /ej/ (ei).
- Theshinbeing pronounced as /s/, making it difficult to differentiate fromsin,a phenomenon known asSabesdiker losn('Sabbath Lingo').[8]
History[edit]
Jews began living in Lithuania as early as the 13th century.[citation needed]In 1388, they were granted a charter byVytautas,under which they formed a class of freemen subject in all criminal cases directly to the jurisdiction of the grand duke and his official representatives, and in petty suits to the jurisdiction of local officials on an equal footing with the lesser nobles (szlachta),boyars,and other free citizens. As a result, the community prospered.
In 1495, they were expelled byAlexander Jagiellon,but allowed to return in 1503. The Lithuanian statute of 1566 placed a number of restrictions on the Jews, and imposedsumptuary laws,including the requirement that they weardistinctive clothing,including yellow caps for men and yellow kerchiefs for women.
TheKhmelnytsky Uprisingdestroyed the existing Lithuanian Jewish institutions. Still, the Jewish population of Lithuania grew from an estimated 120,000 in 1569 to approximately 250,000 in 1792. After the 1793Second Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth,Litvaks became subjects of theRussian Empire.
Litvaks in the Second World War[edit]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification.(April 2014) |
The Jewish Lithuanian population beforeWorld War IInumbered around 160,000, or about 7% of the total population.[9]At the beginning of the war, some 12,000 Jewish refugees fled into Lithuania from Poland;[10]by 1941 the Jewish population of Lithuania had increased to approximately 250,000, or 10% of the total population.[9]
During the German invasion of June 1941, 141,000 Jews were murdered by the Nazis and Lithuanian collaborators.[11]Notable execution locations were thePaneriaiwoods (seePonary massacre) and theNinth Fort.[12]
Culture[edit]
Litvaks have an identifiable mode of pronouncing Hebrew and Yiddish; this is often used to determine the boundaries ofLita(area of settlement of Litvaks). Its most characteristic feature is the pronunciation of the vowelholamas[ej](as against Sephardic[oː],Germanic[au]and Polish[oj]).
In the popular perception,[by whom?]Litvaks were considered to be more intellectual and stoic than their rivals, theGalitzianers,who thought of them as cold fish. They, in turn, disdained Galitzianers as irrational and uneducated. Ira Steingroot's "Yiddish Knowledge Cards" devote a card to this "Ashkenazi version of theHatfields and McCoys".[13]This difference is of course connected with theHasidic/misnageddebate, Hasidism being considered the more emotional and spontaneous form of religious expression. The two groups differed not only in their attitudes and their pronunciation, but also in theircuisine.The Galitzianers were known for rich, heavily sweetened dishes in contrast to the plainer, more savory Litvisher versions, with the boundary known as theGefilte Fish Line.[14]
Genetics[edit]
The Lithuanian Jewish population may exhibit a geneticfounder effect.[15]The utility of these variations has been the subject of debate.[16]One variation, which is implicated in familialhypercholesterolemia,has been dated to the 14th century,[17]corresponding to the establishment of settlements in response to theinvitation extended by Gediminasin 1323, which encouragedGerman Jewsto settle in the newly established city ofVilnius.A relatively high rate of early-onsetdystoniain the population has also been identified as possibly stemming from the founder effect.[18]
Notable people[edit]
Among notable contemporary Lithuanian Jews are:
- BrothersEmanuelis Zingeris(a member of the LithuanianSeimas) andMarkas Zingeris(writer)
- Ephraim Oshry,one of the few Rabbis to survive the Holocaust
- Anatolijus Šenderovas,composer, Laureate of theLithuanian National Award
- Arturas Bumsteinas,composer and sound artist
- Gidonas Šapiro,pop singer from the groupŽAS
- Leonidas Donskis,philosopher and essayist
- Icchokas Meras,writer
- Benjaminas Gorbulskis,composer
- Grigorijus Kanovičius,writer
- Rafailas Karpis,tenor opera singer
- David Geringas,cellist and conductor
- Arkadijus Gotesmanas,jazz percussionist
- Ilja Bereznickas,animator, illustrator, scriptwriter and caricaturist
- Adomas Jacovskis,scenographer
- Marius Jacovskis,scenographer
- Aleksandra Jacovskytė,painter
- Laurence Harvey,actor
See also[edit]
- Category:People of Lithuanian-Jewish descent
- Jewish cemeteries of Vilnius
- Vilna Ghetto
- History of the Jews in Lithuania
- History of the Jews in Latvia
- Timeline of Jewish history in Lithuania and Belarus
- History of the Jews in Poland
- History of the Jews in South Africa
- Israel–Lithuania relations
- List of Lithuanian Jews
- Minhag Polin
Notes[edit]
- ^"Rodiklių duomenų bazė".Db1.stat.gov.lt. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-10-14.Retrieved2013-04-16.
- ^"The Jewish Community of Lithuania".European Jewish Congress.Archived fromthe originalon 2014-11-06.Retrieved2014-11-06.
- ^Shapiro, Nathan."The Migration of Lithuanian Jews to the United States, 1880 – 1918, and the Decisions Involved in the Process, Exemplified by Five Individual Migration Stories"(PDF).Retrieved7 December2013.
- ^"Lithuania".United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
- ^"Vilnius – Jerusalem of Lithuania".litvakai.mch.mii.lt.Retrieved18 October2018.
- ^ Lithuanian population by ethnicityArchived2009-06-02 at theWayback Machine
- ^Joseph Telushkin. Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History. NY: William Morrow and Co., 1991.
- ^Glinert, Lewis, “Ashkenazi Pronunciation Tradition: Modern”, in: Encyclopedia of Hebrew Language and Linguistics, Edited by: Geoffrey Khan. Consulted online on 24 January 2023. First published online: 2013 First print edition: 9789004176423
- ^ab"Lithuania"(updated June 20, 2014). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Retrieved 2015-04-14.
- ^Levin, Dov (2010). "Lithuania".YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe.Retrieved 2015-04-14.
- ^"Lithuania Historical Background".Yadvashem.org.
- ^"The Jerusalem of Lithuania The story of the Jewish community of Vilna".Yadvashem.org.
- ^"Yiddish Knowledge Cards".Retrieved18 October2018.
- ^"This is no fish tale: Gefilte tastes tell story of ancestry".10 September 1999.Retrieved18 October2018.
- ^Slatkin, M (August 2004)."A Population-Genetic Test of Founder Effects and Implications for Ashkenazi Jewish Diseases".Am. J. Hum. Genet.75(2).American Society of Human GeneticsviaPubMed:282–93.doi:10.1086/423146.PMC1216062.PMID15208782.
- ^"Jewish Genetics, Part 3: Jewish Genetic Diseases (Mediterranean Fever, Tay–Sachs, pemphigus vulgaris, Mutations)".www.khazaria.com.Retrieved18 October2018.
- ^Durst, Ronen (May 2001), "Recent Origin and Spread of a Common Lithuanian Mutation, G197del LDLR, Causing Familial Hypercholesterolemia: Positive Selection Is Not Always Necessary to Account for Disease Incidence among Ashkenazi Jews",American Journal of Human Genetics,68(5), Roberto Colombo, Shoshi Shpitzen, Liat Ben Avi, et al.: 1172–1188,doi:10.1086/320123,PMC1226098,PMID11309683
- ^Risch, Neil; Leon, Deborah de; Ozelius, Laurie; Kramer, Patricia; Almasy, Laura; Singer, Burton; Fahn, Stanley;Breakefield, Xandra;Bressman, Susan (1995). "Genetic analysis of idiopathic torsion dystonia in Ashkenazi Jews and their recent descent from a small founder population".Nature Genetics.9(2): 152–159.doi:10.1038/ng0295-152.PMID7719342.S2CID5922128.
References[edit]
- Encyclopedia of the Jewish Diaspora: Origins, Experiences, and Culture. Themes and Phenomena of the Jewish Diaspora, Volume 1.Avrum M. Ehrlich, ABC-CLIO, 2009.ISBN978-1-85109-873-6.
Further reading[edit]
- Dov Levin,The Litvaks: A Short History of the Jews of Lithuania;translated from the Hebrew by Adam Teller. New York: Berghahn Books, 2001,ISBN965-308-084-9
- Alvydas Nikžentaitis, Stefan Schreiner, Darius Staliūnas, Leonidas Donskis,The Vanished World of Lithuanian Jews,Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2004,ISBN90-420-0850-4
- Dovid Katz,Lithuanian Jewish Culture.Vilnius: Baltos lankos and Budapest: Central European University Press, 2010,ISBN978-9639776517
- Dovid Katz,Seven Kingdoms of the Litvaks;Vilnius: International Cultural Program Center, 2009
- Ozer, Mark N. (2009).The Litvak Legacy.Xlibris Corporation.ISBN978-1-4363-6778-3.[self-published source]
- Nathan Shapiro,The Migration of Lithuanian Jews to the United States, 1880 – 1918, and the Decisions Involved in the Process, Exemplified by Five Individual Migration Stories
- Schoenburg, Stuart; Schoenburg, Nancy (2008).Lithuanian Jewish Communities.Jason Aronson Inc.ISBN978-1-56821-993-6.
- Sutton, Karen (2008).The Massacre of the Jews of Lithuania.Jerusalem, Israel: Gefen Publishing House.ISBN978-965-229-400-5.
External links[edit]
- Official website of Jewish Community of Lithuania(in English)
- Website about Jews in Vilnius
- Collection of photos of Litvaks made in first half of 20th century
- Dovid Katz:studieson contemporary and historic Litvak culture and Litvish
- Dovid Katz:Reading listfor the proposed field of Litvak Studies
- MACEVA: Lithuania Jewish Cemetery Project
- The Story of the Jewish Community in Lithuania– on theYad Vashemwebsite
