Litvakes (was: Hebrew revival)

[Robert A. Rothstein]

I would disagree slightly with my friend Jules Levin's comment that
Eliezer Ben-Yehuda "was born in a metaphysical Jewish Lithuania."  He
was born in the area that Yiddish-speaking Jews called "Lite" (two
syllables), which should not be identified with Lithuania (at least in
any recent sense, "recent" here meaning the last several hundred
years).  Jewish Lite corresponds roughly to the non-Ukrainian parts of
the historical Grand Duchy of Lithuania, i.e., the ethnographically
Lithuanian and Belarusian parts, plus some ethnographically Latvian
territory.  So translating "Litvak" as "Lithuanian Jew" is a misleading
shorthand, as is calling Ben-Yehuda's birthplace ("Lushki" in its
Yiddish spelling) a "Lithuanian village."
    Bob Rothstein (a 3/4 Litvak, with grandparents from Gluboke, Vidz
and Loyder [Vitebsker gubernye])

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                  http://home.attbi.com/~lists/seelangs/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------