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Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks are Jews with roots in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: (present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia and the northeastern Suwałki region of Poland). The term is sometimes used to cover all Orthodox Jews who follow a "Lithuanian" (Ashkenazic and non-Hasidic) style of life and learning, whatever their ethnic background.〔(【引用サイトリンク】European Jewish Congress">title=The Jewish Community of Lithuania )〕 The area where Lithuanian Jews lived is often referred to as "Lita." Lithuania was historically home to a large and influential Jewish community that was almost entirely eliminated during the Holocaust (see The Holocaust in Lithuania). Before World War II, there were over 110 synagogues and 10 yeshivas in Vilnius (called Vilna by Jews) alone.〔(Vilnius, Jerusalem of Lithuania )〕 Before World War II, the Lithuanian Jewish population was some 160,000, about 7% of the total population.〔(Lithuania )〕 Vilnius (then Wilno in the Second Polish Republic) had a Jewish community of nearly 100,000, about 45% of the city's total population.〔(The Virtual Jewish History Tour - Vilnius )〕 About 4,000 Jews were counted in Lithuania during the 2005 census.〔(Lithuanian population by ethnicity )〕 Quoting the research done by H. G. Adler into Poland during World War II called ''Theresienstadt 1941–1945'', there were '80,000 Jews conscripted into Poland's independent army prior to the German invasion who identified themselves as Lithuanian Jews'. Using different sources Holocaust researchers claim there were between 60,000–65,000 Jewish soldiers in Poland's independent army who identified themselves as Lithuanian Jews.〔http://www.holocaustsurvivors.org/data.show.php?di=record&da=encyclopedia&ke=27〕 ==Etymology== The Yiddish adjective ליטוויש ''Litvish'' means "Lithuanian": the noun for a Lithuanian Jew is ''Litvak''. The term "Litvak" itself originates from "Litwak", a Polish term denoting "a man from Lithuania", which however went out of use before the 19th century, only to be revived around 1880 in the narrower meaning of "a Lithuanian Jew". Of the main Yiddish dialects in Europe, the Litvishe Yiddish (Lithuanian Yiddish) dialect was spoken by Jews in Lithuania, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia and in the Suwałki region of northeastern Poland. However, following the dispute between the Hasidim and the Misnagdim, 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 all Haredi Jews who are not Hasidim (and not Hardalim or Sephardic Haredim). Other expressions used for this purpose are ''Yeshivishe'' and ''Misnagdim''. Both the words ''Litvishe'' and ''Lita'im'' are somewhat misleading, because there are also Hasidic Jews from greater Lithuania and lots of Lithuanian Jews who are not Haredim. The term ''Misnagdim'' ("opponents") on the other hand is somewhat outdated, because the opposition between the two groups has lost much of its relevance. ''Yeshivishe'' is also problematic because Hasidim now make use of yeshivot as much as the Litvishe Jews. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lithuanian Jews」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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