Lithuania's Jewish community comprised a small portion of world Jewry on the eve of the Holocaust, but has always held a unique place in Jewish history as the outstanding cultural center for Jewish scholarship. The "Litvaks" have always been characterized by their rational approach to learning and by a highly organized community life.
The book describes the Jews in Lithuania from medieval times to the postwar period, when approximately 95% of the community was destroyed. The book highlights the periods of Jewish self-rule, the great yeshivot, the Gaon of Vilna, the Jewish nationalist movements, and other facets of the great legacy of the vibrant Lithuanian Jewish community.

Winner of the 2002 Beautiful Book Award for its splendid design from The Israel Institute for Packaging and Product Logistics.

“Noteworthy for the valuable tables of quantitative data. The most original parts deal with the interwar and Holocaust periods… This is a popular but carefully researched volume that is useful for collections dealing with Jewish history and essential for Holocaust collections.” [Shaul Stampfer, Religious Studies Review, October 2001]

“…akin to a poetic essay about the fate of an ethnic community – one which developed over centuries to form its own civilization and the unique mentality which was once the mark of a Litvak.” [Dalija Epsteinaite, “Jerusalem of Lithuani,” No. 1-2 (117-118), January-March 2003]