S/o dif types of litvaks

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amother

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 9:59 am

There is yekish, polish, american....

Do share what you are and what customs you have.

leah233

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 10:02 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

There is yekish, polish, american....

Do share what you are and what customs you have.

Yekish and Polish are by definition not Litvish.

If you are going classify Litivish groups it would have to be primarily done by differences in haskafa between different Yeshiva (communities).

e.g. Chofetz Chaim vs. Lakewood vs. Ner Yisroel

PinkFridge

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 10:55 am

leah233 wrote:

My guess is is that OP is chassidish and not clear about the rest of the world.
People who came to America before WWII focused more on staying shomer Shabbos than anything else and specific minhagim might have fallen to the wayside. So you have people who daven nusach sefard, wear gartels on Shabbos, but basically blend in to greater community. And this is also true for some people who came after the war, say singles who were absorbed by yeshivos, or married into such families, etc.

A lot of German Jews also tended to go to community institutions and seem more Litvish, at least to an outsider.

Chayalle

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 10:59 am

leah233 wrote:

There were areas in Poland that were closer to Lithuania and were Litvish.

For example, DH's grandparents are from Brisk and Mir. Poland, and Litvish.

amother

Wine

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 10:59 am

I don't think it's as clear cut and divided as different chassidim. It's basically litvish. More or less yeshivish, more or less modern. More or less out-of-townish. Maybe there are some other nuances. Could be I'm just clueless, but that's my take.

Chayalle

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 11:02 am

PinkFridge wrote:

Since the German Kehillos were decimated by the holocaust, they don't have their own yeshivos. Many yekke boys learned in Litvish yeshivos and adopted yeshivish/litvish customs (while maintaining some of their own unique minhagim).

(told to my DD by a boy from a yekke/yeshivish family)

amother

Mint

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 11:37 am

What is a litvak? What does it actually mean? Lithuanian? Then would it not be just people that are from or learned there?

Yekkish is not litvish, that much I know. I do not think other parts of europe are either. Only where those lithuanian borders were ( and the borders probably kept moving around).

So how do you say the not sefardi, mizrachi, chassidish, yekkish rest of europe? Is the only choice litvak or does it still exclude some? What are russians if they are not chassidish?

And jews who were in america before europe began chassidim, not chassidim?

thunderstorm

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 11:41 am

I actually would love to know more about the differences in the Litvish world in terms of the different derachim of learning/yeshivos.
What are the differences between Slabodka, Mir, Brisk etc. ?

amother

Azure

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 11:53 am

thunderstorm wrote:

I actually would love to know more about the differences in the Litvish world in terms of the different derachim of learning/yeshivos.
What are the differences between Slabodka, Mir, Brisk etc. ?

Minor differences in philosophy maybe. But for all intents and purposes they are the same. Walk into a minyan in any of these and they are no different.
A true German shul may be a bit different but I don't know how many exist anymore. I don't know of any people from a German background who still have boys wear a tallis after bar mitzvah. I think the only holdover is waiting 3 hrs instead of 6 after meat, but who can blame them for holding on to that, lol.

doodlesmom

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 11:56 am

Can someone become litvish?

amother

Copper

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 11:58 am

Litvak today is anyone who is not chassidish. The difference between the towns and yeshivos is minimal. Slightly different minhagim but basically the same. You wouldn't be able to tell anyone apart just by meeting them.

thunderstorm

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 11:59 am

amother [ Azure ] wrote:

My boys seem to always comment about Brisker boys in their class. I don’t know what they are referring to , but it seems they are more machmir in certain things. I recall my mother also talking about a Brisker family she stayed by for Pesach as a teen and how they were makpid to have massive shiurim and it all had to be swallowed in a specific amount of time etc. They also wear their peyos out or something like that . Not sure. That’s what I want to learn about. These little nuanced differences . Because there are apparently some differences.

amother

Azure

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 12:04 pm

amother [ Copper ] wrote:

Exactly.
My background is half German, half Lithuanian. Really no difference between the way my parents grew up, except in the way any family has slight nuances in their minhagim.
Can anyone become litvish? Sure. Join a shul, send your kids to litvish schools. Above all, marry someone from this type of background!

Chayalle

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 12:08 pm

amother [ Azure ] wrote:

I've actually heard the opposite...I know people from yekke backgrounds whose children wear Talleisim at quite a young age (there was a family in our shul like this, before we moved.) However, some who went to yeshivos adopted the practice to wait 6 hours after meat, and I know yekke families who do this.

As to Brisk, DH's grandfather was from Brisk but he learned in Mir (go figure). Though Briskers are known for their hakpados, the Brisker Rav was also known for areas in which he was meikil. So you have the shittos and the Brisker matzos, etc....but there's also the other side.

I remember when I got married, DH's grandfather said that in Brisk a Chassan and Kallah didn't necessarily fast the full day of their wedding (DH fasted till chatzos) and not to put on a sheitel till the next morning. DH's grandfather had alot of Kulos when it came to fasting, in general, and he told me not to fast when I was pg on minor fasts (which most Litvish poskim are more makpid on.) When I was pg with my oldest, I was the only one of my friends not fasting on Asarah B'Teves and Tisha B'Av (it was a nidcheh, I fasted till chatzos and then made Havdallah).

Chayalle

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 12:09 pm

amother [ Azure ] wrote:

Above all, marry someone from this type of background!

this is what I did

amother

Copper

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 12:10 pm

Yekkes are different. They are really in their own category. They do many things differently so you can tell them apart.

Crookshanks

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 12:29 pm

Yekkes in Lakewood may not be so obvious but there is a community in Washington Heights that keeps all the minhagim. My family also keeps most minhagim, but my family is yeshivish in hashkafah so we don't follow yekkish hashkafa in going out to work, for example. My family is the most yeshivish of all our yekkish relatives (who are all doctors or lawyers without exception!).

amother

Tangerine

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 12:34 pm

amother [ Azure ] wrote:

Do they keep to their communities or do they marry others?

amother

Azure

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 12:45 pm

amother [ Tangerine ] wrote:

Do they keep to their communities or do they marry others?

Once people came to America nobody was trying to keep to their community. It sounds like you are visualizing some sort of segregation that just doesn't exist.

amother

Copper

Fri, Jan 15 2021, 12:52 pm

amother [ Tangerine ] wrote:

Do they keep to their communities or do they marry others?

No there are no separate communities, many people don't ask or care what type/ where they come from when dating

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