#karaites

[folklorespring]

Karaite kenesa in Vilnius, Lithuania

[bobemajses]

Two Karaite men at the ruins of Chufut Kale in the Crimean mountains, ca. 1910s.

Chufut-Kale is a medieval city-fortress in southern Crimea. Its Turkic name stands for "Jewish Fortress", while Crimean Karaites refer to it as simply as "Fortress", viewing the place as a historical center of their community. From the 17th century, it was almost exclusively inhabited by Karaite and Krymchak Jews, until it was abandoned in the early 20th century, because of a lack of water in the mountains.

[thenuclearmallard]

History of the Indigenous peoples of Crimea.

[songs-of-the-east]

There are four Turkic-speaking populations native to Ukraine. 

Three of them are native to Crimea. The Crimean Tatars being traditionally Muslims. Krymchaks were traditionally Rabbinic Jews. The Karaites on the other hand identified as Karaite Jews, however historical consequences lead the Karaites of Ukraine and Poland to identify themselves as distinct from the Jews of Eastern Europe and West Asia. Under the rule of the Russian Czar this lead them to have the same rights as Christians and Muslims of the area. Later after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union this assertion lead to the Nazis identifying them as non-Jewish as well, thus preventing them from meeting the same fate as Krymchaks who were nearly obliterated as a people. Despite this genetic studies have shown that they have a similar origins with other European and Levantine Jews, and are genetic isolates alongside their Krymchak neighbors in comparison to their Muslim and Christian neighbors. 

The Gagauz are native the Bessarabia. They are unique among Turkic-speaking populations, alongside certain Volga Turkic populations in Russia, in that they converted to Eastern Orthodoxy in the Middle Ages.

It should be noted that the term Tatar is an umbrella term used for certain Turkic-speaking populations (or Slavic in the case of Polish Tatars) and that the term is highly ambiguous. 

[darkhei-noam]

A Karaite prayer: Little-known Jewish community builds center to tell its story

Show up on a Shabbat morning at Congregation B’nai Israel in Daly City, and — if you’re a typical American Jew — you will see plenty that’s familiar. At the front of the sanctuary is an ark, and in…

The new center will make it easier for young Jews from Karaite families to make the same choice. “For [Reuven] and others like him — there are many young kids in our community — that they have a place they can learn about their heritage if they, too, make the active decision to choose Karaite Judaism, this center will be there to support them in that,” Lichaa said.

David, Maryellen, Lichaa and other members of the local Karaite community are looking forward to the completion of the center with great anticipation. They have given their money, time and moral support to the project. And every bit of that is being put to use.

“We have to maximize every square inch of space, every dollar,” Maryellen said.

Indeed, the property is small, and half of it is taken up by a parking lot; the cultural center extension will bring the facility right up to the sidewalk.

Sitting at B’nai Israel, talking with the regulars, there is a sense of vibrancy and excitement. The mood is that of people awaiting the impending arrival of something truly awe-inspiring. And who can blame them? They are embarking on an exciting new venture that will have a lasting impact on the future of their community and its heritage.

“I’m hopeful now that there’ll be a future for Karaite Judaism in the United States,” Lichaa said.

[bobemajses]

Karaite kenesa (synagogue) in Vilnius, Lithuania built in 1921.

The Lithuanian Karaites or Karaim are the smallest historic ethnic community in Vilnius, with just 150 or so remaining members of a unique Turkic-Jewish people. They settled in the region together with Muslim Tatars in the 14th century, praying in Hebrew and adhering to the Torah, but not to the Jewish rabbinical tradition. Having originated in 8th century Iraq and Iran and further developed in Eastern Europe, Lithuanian Karaism blended in many Christian, Tengri and (especially) Islamic practices. Other traditions, such as some holidays, are unique to Karaism.

[christianpublishinghouse-blog]

QUEST FOR TRUTH: Karaites, Aaron Ben Moses Ben Asher, and the Masoretic Text

Aaron Ben Moses Ben Asher of the tenth-century C.E.

Karaite Judaism (/ˈkɛərə.aɪt/) or Karaism (/ˈkɛərə.ɪzəm/; Hebrew: יהדות קראית, Modern: Yahadut Qara’it from, Tiberian: Qārāʾîm, meaning “Readers”; also spelt Qaraite Judaism or Qaraism) is a Jewish religious movement characterized by the recognition of the written Torah alone as its supreme authority in halakha (Jewish religious law)…

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[jewish-pride]

This modern Karaite song offers praise to God for the birth of a girl. The song welcomes her into the community and encourages her to live a life adherent to the Torah of God and within the framework of Karaite Judaism. (Translated by Gabriel Wasserman, Written by Hazzan Yaron)