Karaite Judaism

An Israeli Stamp featuring the Karaite Jews.

Karaite Judaism is a Jewish denomination characterized by reliance on the Tanakh as the sole scripture, and rejection of the Oral Law. The word "Karaite" comes from the Hebrew word קראים (Ḳərāʾîm or Kara'iym), meaning "Followers of Scripture". This name was chosen by the adherents of Karaite Judaism to distinguish themselves from the adherents of Orthodox Judaism.

Karaite beliefs

Karaites are adherents of Karaite Judaism, which relies on the Tanakh as the sole scripture and rejects the Oral Law (the Mishnah and the Talmuds). When interpreting scripture Karaites claim to adhere to the, p'shat or plain meaning, of the text. This is in contrast to Rabbinical Judiasm, which employs the methods of p'shat, remez, drash, and sod.

Why don't the karaites accept the Oral law?

Karaites do not accept the Oral Law as Halakha (Legally Binding) because:

Karaites do not believe that the Oral Law is mentioned in the Tanakh.
Karaites believe that all the Torah was written down during the lifetime of Moses and Joshua, and that there is only one Torah.
Karaites believe it to "add" or "take away" from the plain meaning of the text.
Karaites believe it to contradict the text at times.
The Mishnah and Talmud record the opinions of Rabbis who disagree with each other. The Rabbis explain that whenever there are such disagreements, "both opinions are the words of the living God". Karaites maintain that it is unreasonable to believe that God would contradict Himself.
The Tanach reports that the written Torah was lost and forgotten for over 50 years and only rediscovered by the Temple priests (2Ki 22:8, 2Chr 34:15). Karaites believe that it is inconceivable that an Oral Law could have been remembered when the written Law was forgotten.

The Karaite calendar

Karaites rely on observations of the Moon to begin their months, and on observations of barley (called the Aviv) to begin their years, as deduced from statements in the Torah (Aviv is both marker for the first month of the Biblical Hebrew calendar, and the next-to-last stage in the growth of barley, which it was in during the plague of hail shortly before the first Passover). Before quick worldwide communication was available, Karaites in the Diaspora used a variety of methods to determine the calendar, including observation and calculation, along with reports from Jerusalem.

The Sabbath

File:Full Prostration karaite siddur.jpg

An example of full prostration as shown in the American Karaite Siddur

As with other Jews, during the Jewish Sabbath Karaites attend synagogues to worship and to offer prayers. However, most Karaites refrain from sexual relations on the day. Their prayerbooks are comprised almost completely of biblical passages. Karaites often practice full prostration during prayers, which is practiced by most Jews only on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

Karaite writings

Karaism has produced a vast library of commentaries and polemics. These writings prompted new and complete defenses of the Talmud and Mishna, the culmination of these in the writings of Saadia Gaon and his criticisms of Karaism. Though he opposed Karaism, the Rabbinic commentator Abraham Ibn Ezra regularly quoted Karaite commentators, particularly Yefet ben Ali, to the degree that a legend exists among some Karaites that Ibn Ezra was ben Ali's student.

The most well-known Karaite polemic is חיזוק אמונה (Faith Strengthened), a comprehensive Counter-Missionary polemic which was later translated into Latin under the name of 'The Fiery Darts of Satan'. Many Counter-Missionary materials produced today are based upon or cover the same themes as this book. Scholarly studies of Karaite writings are still in their infancy.

See also List of Karaite Jews

Misconceptions about Karaites

Contrary to the beliefs of some, Karaites do not wear Tefillin in any form, hang Tzitzit on their walls, venerate Jesus or Mohammed, or spend Shabbat without moving around or attending a Synagogue. Also, Karaites are not responsible for the Inquisition; in fact, all Karaites had been driven from Spain by the end of the 11th century (see below).

Karaites of different regions

Russian Karaites

During the 18th century, Russian Karaites spread many myths externally which freed them from various anti-Semitic laws that affected other Jews. Avraham Firkovitch helped establish these ideas by forging tombstones in Crimea which bear inscriptions stating that those buried were of the "lost tribes" of Israel. Other myths included the invention of the Khazar origin, or that they were not Jewish, among others. These actions were intended to convince the Russian Czar that they could not have killed Jesus, which was an underlying reason for the anti-semetic laws.

Intermarriages between Karaite and Rabbinic Jews, however, still took place. Russian Karaites relate that because they were prohibited from learning their ancestors' beliefs under communism, many were taught and believed these myths. Because of the above, and a ruling by Orthodox Rabbis intended to save the Karaites, the Nazis of the World War II generally left the Karaites alone during the holocaust.

Crimean Karaites

In 1392 the Grand Duke of Lithuania relocated the Crimean Karaites to Lithuania where they continued to speak their own language, Karaim, in private life as the sect's own internal language, while old Hebrew remained in the spiritual use. The Karaites have practiced their own ceremonies of belief as well. The Crimean Karaites faced the same problems the Russian Karaites did, due to Communism. A small number of Karaites still reside in Lithuania today.

Spanish Karaites

During the 10th and 11th Centuries, Karaite Jews in Spain had become "a force to be reckoned with." In Castile, High ranking Rabbinical Jews such as Joseph Ferrizuel persuaded it's King to allow persecution of Karaite Jews. It became common during the 11th century for a Karaite to be flogged to death if he or she did not abandon his or her beliefs. With Royal Assistance, Rabbi Todros Halevi and Joseph ibn Alfakhar successfully drove out the surviving Karaite population.

External links

Chizzuk Emunah (Faith Strengthened)
Congregation Orah Saddiqim
Encyclopaedia of the Orient : Karaism
Karaim website Information about Turkic/Crimean Karaites
Karaites-USA
KJA - Congregation Bnei Yisrael
Museum of Tolerance on the Karaites from the Encyclopedia of the Holocaust
World Karaite Movement
Qumran Bet Community
Karaite Jewish Community Beth Shalom

Spanish Persecution of Karaites