How many people are there in the Lithuanian Karaim community today?
Aleksandras: Not many – 250 people in the whole of Lithuania, with nearly 60 living here, in Trakay. – For most Eastern nations the notion of community is very important: representatives of several generations often live in one house, families are large and friendly, etc. Would you say that this is typical for Karaims? Aleksandras: It is, or rather was typical for us – these traditions are fading away from our life today. In fact, just as any other nation living in a foreign country, Karaims have adopted the lifestyle of this environment. I would say that Lithuanian Karaims are becoming fairly westernised; and the notion of individualism in the Karaim community is as strong as in the Lithuanian society today. Jelena: Even though we are keen to preserve our traditional lifestyle, it still changes, which, most probably, is inevitable. For example, in older times Karaim weddings were celebrated during the whole week, with everybody being welcome (no special invitations were sent), while t
