Book Description
The first introduction to Karaite history, practice, thought, and custom in the English language.An ideal book for anyone interested in Karaite Judaism as a living religion, from the perspective of an insider. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A good place to start
If you want to know more about Karaism, what Karaites believe, and have believed, etc., this is a good place to start.The book is systematic.It starts with Karaite history (starting with ancient Jewish history), then proceeds to cover Karaite thought, belief, and practice.It seems a little sparse on some of the details for the holidays (mostly for Yom Teruah - aka Rosh HaShannah, and Yom Kippur), but other than that it is pretty thorough.

A great introduction
I thought this was a very good introduction to Karaite Judaism for the beginner.It covers most of the topics that someone who knowns nothing about Karaism would want to know.I especially liked the fact that the book focused on what Karaite Judaism is, rather than what it isn't, and how it differs from mainstream Judaism.A lot of books out there on Karaism seem to want to spend a lot of time telling you how Karaism and "Rabbanism" differ.Not this book.It is focused, to the point, and thorough, for an introduction.

A useful work on Karaite doctrine
This book fills a long-standing gap in Karaite studies. It is a very useful exposition of Karaite doctrine and practices, written by Karaites themselves. The reader, however, should be aware that the authors are Karaites from the Egyptian community and tradition, and therefore they do not have the background or linguistic ability to provide information on the customs of the Eastern European Karaites - specifically those of the Crimea, Lithuania, and Poland, whose books and journals were written in Karaim (a Turkic language), Russian, Lithuanian, and Polish.

There are also some questionable - or at least debatable - statements made in the book about the history of the Karaites in general, and the connections of the Crimean Karaites (Karaims) with the Khazars in particular.

Although the book is well printed and bound, there are, unfortunately, a great many typographical errors which should have been corrected during proofreading before publication.

Readers interested in further information on the Karaites should look for the English translation of a work by Simon Szyszman, the greatest Karaite scholar of the twentieth century, entitled "Karaism: Its Doctrines and History," which is due to be published this year. ... Read more

Book Description
The Karaites, a small Jewish sect that arose twelve centuries ago and still exists today, was at one time the most outspoken and productive schismatic division in Judaism. The Karaites contributed much to the Jewish literature of the Middle Ages, for they developed their own corpus of theological dogmas, liturgy, juristic exegesis, metaphysical concepts, secular poetry, apologetics, and sermons. This anthology-the first of its kind in any language of the West-provides excerpts from the early Karaite literature (down to about the year 1500) representing the full range of their thought and belief. All extracts have been translated directly from Arabic, Aramaic, and Hebrew original sources. "This book marks the first attempt in any language to present a chronological exposition of seven centuries of evolution of this interesting Jewish sect through a selection of excerpts from the writings of its spokesmen. . . . [A] pioneering achievement."-Zvi Ankori, Jewish Social Studies "Will be of real interest. . . to historians of religion, sociologists of religion, students of Judaism, Talmudic scholars, students of comparative religious law, and scholars interested in the relation between Islam and Judaism in the Middle Ages."-Maurice S. Friedman, The Journal of Religion "The book is an important addition to Qaraite literature in English."-Isis "The texts are wisely chosen, carefully edited, and supplied with copious notes. An excellent introduction to each writer is given. The book is successful from every point of view."-Edward Robertson, The Royal Asiatic Society "The commentaries of [the] scholars. . . are important additions to Jewish scholarly research."-Jewish News ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Precious
The is a fine collection of Karaite writings. The volume gives you an ample survey of Karaism's finest scholars and their works on scripture

A Classic
This book is a classic, written by one of the most important scholars of Karaism in the last 100 years.It is a wonderful, accessible introduction to the thought of some of the most important early Karaite scholars.I don't agree with everything Nemoy says, especially some of his comments about Karaite poetry, however, in general, he is right on. ... Read more

Book Description
Setting: The Crimean peninsula, the borderland between Europe and Asia, where East meets West. Become a guest of one of the Crimea's most enigmatic inhabitants: the Crimean Karaites.The Karaites are Jews who rely solely on the Hebrew Bible.Their enigmatic past still engenders debate and discussion:their supposed descendancy from the ancient Judeans, their association with the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel and the nomadic Khazars, and the heated controversy surrounding their legal separation from the larger Jewish population in Russia fill the pages of this volume with the drama of intrigue, excitement, mystery, and redemption. Karaites Through the Travellers' Eyes makes you an eyewitness to the riveting story of the Karaites in the Crimea, through the words of those who witnessed this mystifying people first hand. ... Read more

Book Description
Notions of history and the past contained in literature of the Karaite Jewish sect offer insight into the relationship of Karaism to mainstream rabbinic Judaism and to Islam and Christianity. Karaite Judaism and Historical Understanding describes how a minority sectarian religious community constructs and uses historical ideology. It investigates the proportioning of historical ideology to law and doctrine and the influence of historical setting on religious writings about the past.

Fred Astren discusses modes of representing the past, especially in Jewish culture, and then poses questions about the past in sectarian—particularly Judaic sectarian—contexts. He contrasts early Karaite scripturalism with the literature of rabbinic Judaism, which, embodying historical views that carry a moralistic burden, draws upon the chain of tradition to suppose a generation-to-generation transmission of divine knowledge and authority. Karaites in the medieval Islamic world eschewed historical thinking, in concert with their rejection of the rabbinic concept of tradition. One important medieval Karaite, al-Qirqisani, however, constructed a sophisticated historical argument as part of his philosophical exposition of Karaism, demonstrating theological and philosophical strategies common in Islam and Christianity.

The center of Karaism shifted to the Byzantine-Turkish world during the twelfth through sixteenth centuries, when a new historical outlook unoblivious of the past accommodated legal developments influenced by rabbinic thought. Reconstructing Karaite historical expression from both published works and previously unexamined manuscripts, Astren shows that Karaites relied on rabbinic literature to extract and compile historical data for their own readings of Jewish history, which they recorded in an encyclopedic literature similar to contemporary Byzantine Christian Orthodox writing. Astren documents how as the Karaites moved toward a concept of tradition and echoed rabbinic historical formulations, they developed a version of the chain of tradition to link archaic biblical history to their own community.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Karaite scholars in Poland and Lithuania collated and harmonized historical materials inherited from their Middle Eastern predecessors. Astren portrays the way that Karaites, with some influence from Jewish Renaissance historiography and impelled by features of Protestant-Catholic discourse, prepared complete literary historical works that maintained their Jewishness while offering a Karaite reading of Jewish history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I learned something about Karaism
I knew a little bit about Karaism from pages here and there in other books- mostly that the Karaites were Biblical literalists who repudiated rabbinic tradition and who went without heat on Shabbat (although as this book points out, they eventually moved away from this harsh view).This book fills in a few blanks.

During the Karaites' early period, there was no unified Karaite halachah- obviously an impractical way of functioning.Instead, Karaites were expected to do their best to interpret the Torah themselves, and to ignore rabbinic tradition. For example, the opinions of Anan (who may or may not have founded Karaism) were by no means universally accepted.Astren implies that the need to create functioning communities forced them to create more uniformity of practice, which in turn forced them to create a chain of interpretive tradition.And if Karaites were going to rely on tradition rather than on their own judgment, why not at least adopt some of the traditions of the Jewish mainstream?In fact, by the 15th century the Karaites had moved towards mainstream Jewish halachic positions on a wide variety of issues, and in some parts of the world (the Ottoman Empire in particular), the Karaites had relatively good relationships with mainstream Jewry.(On the other hand, in Russia the Karaites became totally severed from Jewry, mainly to avoid Tsarist oppression of Jews).

I suspect that the growth of Karaite tradition destroyed the rationale for Karaism - which is perhaps why Karaism dwindled; to have uniformity, they had to be able to agree on rules other than those suggested by literal interpretation of the Torah, yet the logic behind Karaism was that the Torah should take priority over tradition.

Another factor that led to the Karaite evolution towards tradition may have been the movement of many Karaites from Jerusalem to Christian Byzantium after the Crusades.In the early Islamic empire "a claim to historical anteriority was of negligible value.Islam itself was dominant, yet historically recent."By contrast, in a Christian environment "the Karaites were considered immigrant newcomers, whose pedigree was highly questionable." (p. 148)So once Karaites moved into Christian areas, they had a strong incentive to claim that they too had a chain of tradition in order to avoid Christian hostility.

Astren also speculates on how Karaism came about.In the centuries before the Talmud, Jewish communities outside Israel and Babylon become more isolated and autonomous.When the Muslims swept through the Middle East in the 7th and 8th centuries, centralization of political power increased communications, which in turn made the Talmud more available to Jews.Karaism may have began with Jews unhappy with Talmudic centraliztion of Jewish law.

One small thing I did not like about this book: because its focus is so narrow, it sometimes throws in obscure terms without any explanation.For example, the book repeatedly refers to Jewish sects more obscure than the Karaites (such as Mishawites and Tiflisites) without explaining who they were and what they believed. ... Read more

Product Description
In The Karaite Jews of Egypt, Mourad el-Kodsi offers for the first time a comprehensive and scholarly study of the little-known history of the Karaite Jews. Dealing primarily with the period from 1882-1986, el-Kodsi's text reveals the many dimensions of the Karaites' rich cultural heritage, and is supplemented by numerous photographs and reproductions of authentic Karaite documents of historical import. In a style that is at once uncompromising and sensitive, the author examines the folk traditions, societal patterns, and artistic contributions of this once-flourishing society. ... Read more

Book Description
Karaism is a Jewish religious movement of a scripturalist and messianic nature, which emerged in the Middle Ages in the areas of Persia-Iraq and Palestine and has maintained its unique and varied forms of identity and existence until the present day, undergoing resurgent cycles of creativity, within its major geographical centres of the Middle-East, Byzantium-Turkey, the Crimea and Eastern Europe.

This Guide to Karaite Studies contains thirty-seven chapters which cover all the main areas of medieval and modern Karaite history and literature, including geographical and chronological subdivisions, and special sections devoted to the history of research, manuscripts and printing, as well as detailed bibliographies, index and illustrations. The substantial volume reflects the current state of scholarship in this rapidly growing sub-field of Jewish Studies, as analysed by an international team of experts and taught in various universities throughout Europe, Israel and the United States. ... Read more

Book Description
This volume contains a collection of articles that present studies of medieval Karaite texts. The articles in the volume concern primary manuscript sources, the majority of which have not been published so far. They examine various topics in Biblical exegesis and grammar. ... Read more

Book Description
Rational speculative theology (kalam) in early Islam wasrepresented most distinctly by the theological school of the Mu`tazila.Founded in Basra in the early 8th century, the school soon becamepredominant in theological scholarship and discourse and remained so untilthe early 11th century. The Mu`tazila held that the basic truths oftheology, such as the existence of God and the nature of His attributes andjustice, are entirely subject to rational proof without the benefit ofscriptural revelation. Only after these basic truths have been establishedcan the veracity of scripture be proved by reason, and the primacy ofreason must also maintained in the interpretation of scripture. Mu`tazilitheology naturally appealed to rationally inclined theologians of otherscriptural religions and provided a suitable basis for inter-faithcommunication in the Islamic world. In Judaism Mu`tazili thought wasadopted to varying degrees from the 9th century on and reached a peakduring the tenth century.

The Mu`tazili world view and rational theology was facing increasingcompetition and criticism from philosophy of Greek origin, which claimed toprovide the only scientific world view based on cogent logicaldemonstration independent of religious beliefs. Study of the philosophicalsciences was mostly shunned in religious scholarship, but was an integralpart of the education of the medical profession. Among Qadi `Abdal-Jabbar's disciples in Rayy was for some time a young physician trainedin the philosophical sciences, Abu l-Husayn al-Basri (d. 1044), whochallenged some of his teaching in his lectures and went on to compose amassive critical review of the arguments and proofs used in kalam. Histheological works were generally ignored among the Mu`tazila and handeddown among students of medicine. Only a century later his teaching wasrevived and espoused by the Mu`tazili scholar Mahmud b. al-Malahimi inKhorezm in Central Asia and gained recognition as a school of Mu`tazilitheology.

The present study presents evidence that Abu l-Husayn's theology wasimmediately registered and controversially debated in the Karaite communityunder the Fatimid caliphate. The study is based on source materialpreserved in Genizahs and now dispersed in libraries around the world. ... Read more