Many of the polemics appearing on
this blog have been strongly critical of certain Rabbinic concepts and
practices, namely the oral law. Also,
historically, Rabbanites were highly critical of the Karaite movement, and
brought in measures to ban or convert them.
However, it is worthwhile asking if
they can actually be friends or is adversity an unavoidable part of their
relationship?
Perhaps the problem lies in the
battles fought over the Temple in the time of the last serving Priests, the
Sadducees. Here, there was true enmity between the Sadducees and the Pharisees.
Later, the Karaite movement faced problems with the Rabbanites, and this
resulted in polemics, but also on occasion, some violence.
Today, the Jewish world, as far as
the religious practicing sectors, is dominated by the Rabbanites, who may also
be Reform or Conservative. The Karaites are more of an endangered species, and
do not pose a threat to anyone. There are thousands of yeshivot, but very few places of Karaite study. Also,
the Rabbanites of today consider the Karaites to be religiously practicing but
mistaken on one fundamental issue. The 2
groups are the only 2 Jewish denominations who accept the Divine status of the
Torah. Reform, and Conservative, which
are the largest in the USA, have simply
discarded this belief.
SO to address the problem –
ideologically, the Karaites are opponents to the unique concept of the oral law
of the rabbanites. This, is for the Orthodox, a heretical view, and one that is
scary, since it means loss of one’s investment in Olam Haba. So there is fear
an enmity between the 2.
On the other hand, there is a
potential for some kind of friendship.
In times of adversity, Jews should try to unite. There is much that the
Rabbinic world can offer to Karaite oriented Jews, be it community,
organisational, educational etc. And one
can get tired of fighting. The Karaites can contribute to Torah scholarship. Many Rabbinical commentaries are in fact
“Karaite” ie they focus on the meaning of the Torah verses. Of course, many others bring in Talmudic and
midrashic interpretations, and these are not always congruent with the Karaite
view.
A great Rabbi and his wife, Eitam
and Naama Henkin have been murdered by our enemies. Rabbi Henkin was a great Torah scholar, and
lover of Eretz Yisrael. As Karaites, we
mourn the righteous and innocent Jews who are murdered by terrorists, and our
sympathy goes out to their families.
It is flat out false to say that the Conservative movement in Judaism has officially discarded the belief that the Torah has Divine status. Indeed, the Conservative movement is still officially dedicated to the bindingness of Halacha, though they interpret it quite differently from the Orthodox. It's also true that most Conservative congregants don't observe Halacha, though some do.
ReplyDeleteI think they can and should be friends. They could learn a lot with each other! Concerning the differences about faith matters, respect is the key. After all, using arguments will not convince someone of something he firmly believes.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that there is no practical difference in the observances of people who claim to be Reform Jews and those who claim to be Conservative Jews. It is mostly abstract distinctions noted by their various clergy.
ReplyDeleteHowever I am convinced that it is a myth thst most Karaite scholarship has been totally opposed to rabbinic Judaism.
Actually, Conservative do have a Halachic body, and at least some of their members are observant. In fact Prof Neusner says that he had to keep Kosher in order to move from Reform to the Conservative JTS where he preferred to study.
DeleteAs for Karaite scholarship, we need to see what remains of their books. If the Karaite Anthology is a good sample, then it represents some serious debates and divides. Similarly, the Sadducean priests opposed a lot of Phariseeic/Rabbinic constructs, but agreed on some things.
The Karaite Anthology of Nemoy is very incomplete and confusing. Spend time on Prof. Fred Astren's book, Karaite Judaism and Historical Understanding. That is where we see the original sources showing that Karaism was never an anarchistic movement. However, I still want to know what those sources and what Karaites did on Shabbat night. Did they actually spend the whole night in the dark at home and the synagogue, eating cold food, and spending the winters in a cold house? I really find it hard to believe.
ReplyDeleteI do know about the Conservative halachic body, but I bet 95 % of Conservative Jews have nothing to do with it.
Well, it is hard to say what they actually did. I presume they did not allow fire to burn through the Shabbat. They may have heated up something like stone, to radiate its heat through the night.
DeleteBen Mikra, that's an interesting comment. You are referring to some heating element that did not involve actual fire burning. But the question is how would that have continued the whole 24 hours? Furthermore, is it true that they would spend the whole evening in the dark in the synagogue and home? How would they pray and read?!
ReplyDeleteI don't know the technical details or what they did on Shabbat nights. Let me put it another way - what did the Sadducees do in Israel? If the claims are true that they did not allow fire to burn, how did they conduct their evenings?
DeleteYour question is on target, Ben Mikra. Somehow I have this suspicion that perhaps the interpretation of no fire and no heat might just be a myth.After all, the Karaites in Europe DID allow for fire and heat, so the interpretation that it was forbidden was obviously not so cut and dry or universal. So if it could be interpreted more than one way in Europe then presumably it was the same case in Judea and in Babylonia.
ReplyDeleteI have found the discussion about fire on shabbat in Aderet Eliyahu between pages 86 and 89 (Chapter 17-20). The extensive discussion (which is somewhat difficult to follow easily) is very similar to rabbinic pilpul and is extremely interesting.
ReplyDeleteHe explains that Karaites themselves were divided (using the same description as the "division" between rabbanites and Karaites) since the time of Yeshua ben Yehuda about the understanding of fire. On the one hand from the time of Anan the main issue was not allowing fire in one's dwellings. On the other hand the prohibition of not doing any prohibited labors on shabbat included not extinguishing a fire that was on from before shabbat started.
Thus, according to the interpretations of Anan, one would have to extinguish a fire on shabbat that was left on from Friday before Shabbat, and according to Yeshua ben Yehuda, it is PROHIBITED from doing so, because extinguishing fire is a prohibited labor ("melacha"). He further brings proof from the teachings of Levi ben Yefet who explained that the verse in the Torah does not say "There shall not be found fire in your dwelling".
Aderet Eliyahu asks chapter 18, "Can any intelligent person imagine Moshe Rabbenu and the prophets, the seven elders and the princes sitting in the dark?" He then brings linguistic evidence for the penalties involved in damage caused by one's cow and other linguistic proofs to show that the prohibition of having fire on shabbat is not correct, and based on additional linguistic proofs from Levi ben Yefete he shows that the prohibition is a stringency.
This material suggests that Aderet Eliyahu did NOT make "reforms" in the use of fire. He says explicitly that the Karaites were divided from the time of Yeshua ben Yehuda as Rabbanites and Karaites were divided.
The issue of fire is discussed by Aderet Eliyahu in relation to the prohibition of extinguishing fire on shabbat. If it is forbidden to extinguish a fire on shabbat, then what does one do ifca fire is burning from the beginning of shabbat?! How can the Torah prohibit fire on shabbat if it is a forbidden act to extinguish it? Apparently the Ananites did not consider it prohibited to extinguish fire, but Aderet Eliyahu cites Yeshua Ben Yehuda in terms of the forbidden act of extinguishing fire, and that not having a fire is simply a stringency.
ReplyDeleteThus if someone was burning a fire on Friday and it had more fuel than was needed, it could continue to burn, and there was nothing that could be done!!