Litvakes (was: Hebrew revival)

[Uladzimir Katkouski]

This makes sense for me too. Thanks for your clarifications. I've never
seen the term "Lite" before, and I thought that "Litviak" is just the
most appropriate word and covers all of the GDL Jews.

By the way, I've also been to Hlubokaje (Gluboke as you spelled it) in
Vitebsk region, my grandparents come from a town just 40-minutes ride
from Hlubokaje.

Regards,
Uladzimir


"Robert A. Rothstein" <rar at SLAVIC.UMASS.EDU> wrote:

>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])


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