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There are many ways to define Karaism, and, ironically, many of the ways Karaism is usually defined by others are incorrect. For instance, Karaism does not teach that one should interpret the Torah literally.
Karaism is a fundamentalist approach towards Torah. The word "fundamentalist", unlike its popular connotation, does not imply a right-wing political bent. Rather, it implies a close and precise reading of a text, in this case the Torah, without wide-ranging and creative interpretations. Fundamentalists stick close to the original meaning of a text.
A second effective definition is that Karaism does not consider any text aside from the 24 books of the Tanach to have divine or canonical status. This is as opposed to the Rabbinical movement, which considers later writings such as the Mishah, Talmud and Midrash to be canonical and even to have divine or semi-divine status ("ruach ha-kodesh"). The idea can be summed up as follows: As a Karaite, I do not reject everything written in the Rabbinical (or any other) writings, but I do not accept everything. Instead, I filter each idea based on its own merit.
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Karaites are universally united in their rejection of the hegemony of the Rabbinical movement over Israel. Karaites consider the Rabbis to be neither the rightful nor the appropriate rulers over the religious and political life of the nation, and consider their form of Judaism to be a distortion of true Torah.
It is well known that the latter half of the Second Temple period was marred by an ongoing — and often vicious — battle between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, which the Pharisees won in the end. Most Karaites claim, therefore, that it was the "wrong" side that won, and that the reason that Pharasaical (later, Rabbinical) Judaism has become normative is because "history is written by the victors".
Karaites generally attribute the victory of the Pharisees over the Sadducees to three main factors: (a) the Pharisees developed a populist form of Torah (the "Oral Law") which won over the hearts of the people, even though many of its innovations were a departure from true Torah; (b) the Pharisees gave the "Oral Law" further credence among the people by falsely claiming that it hearkened back to Moshe, and; (c) the Pharisees enlisted the political and, ultimately, military help of the Romans, finally inviting the Romans in to take control of the land of Israel, with the understanding that they would support the Pharisees in return. The Romans did so in 63 BCE, when Pompey captured Jerusalem, ushering in the period of Roman control over Israel.
Karaites do not see these verses as referring to the Rabbis (or any other group) at all, but understand them as a commandment to set up a hierarchical court system in Israel, whereby if the local courts ("in your gates") are unable to adjudicate upon a case, then the case is to be brought to the "Supreme Court" of the land located at the Holy Temple ("the place where Yehowah your Elohim has chosen"), and the decision of this court is final, not to be deviated from "to the right or to the left".
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No. Karaites believe in the straightforward (p'shath) interpretation of the Torah. Sometimes, the straightforward interpretation can be literal and sometimes it can be figurative. For instance, the straightforward interpretation of the phrase "he has two left feet" is equivalent to its figurative interpretation "he cannot dance well" and not to its literal interpretation.
Thus, Karaites do not wear tefillin (phylacteries) because they understand the straightforward interpretation of the verse "it shall be for you as a sign upon your hand and as a remembrance between your eyes" [Deuteronomy 6:8, 11:18] as figurative, meaning that the Torah should always be as if bound to our bodies, i.e. a constant close companion. By contrast, the Rabbis interpret this verse literally by taking the verses, enclosing them in black leather boxes and binding them to their bodies.
Understanding that ancient Hebrew is an exceedingly rich language, full of idiom, poetry and metaphor is a key to unlocking the meaning of the Tanach and determining whether a phrase is meant to be taken literally or figuratively.
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No. However the two movements share similar understandings of the Torah, both having preferred straightforward interpretation of the text.
While the Sadducees were one of the main religious and political movements in Judea (the Land of Israel) during the Second Temple Period, the origins of the Karaite movement, by contrast, are from the Muslim lands of the eighth and ninth century CE.
While the power of the Sadducees waned over the course of the Second Temple Period, disappearing completely soon after the destruction of the temple by the Romans in 70 CE, the Karaite movement reached its height during the 10th and 11th centuries CE (known as the "Golden Age of Karaism"). Thus, the Sadducee movement ceased to exist almost 700 years before the Karaite movement was born.
Although the two movements never directly overlapped, Karaites tend to view themselves as a philosophical continuation of the Sadducees.
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No. The origins of the Samaritans are described in Second Kings 17 as being the result of a transfer of populations by Shalmaneser V, the King of Assyria who, along with his father Tiglath-Pileser III, conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and exiled the 10 "lost" tribes. After the defeat of Israel, Shalmaneser transferred the original Israelite inhabitants of Samaria to the eastern provinces of his empire and in their place, populated Samaria with inhabitants of Babylon and other cities.
Today the Samaritans, who number a little under one thousand, are situated primarily on Mount Gerizim near Shechem, Israel. They believe that Mount Gerizim, rather than Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, is the place where "Yehowah chose to place his name" [Deuteronomy 12:5] and it is therefore the center of their sacrificial worship. Once a year they sacrifice the Paschal (Passover) lamb on Mount Gerizim.
While the Samaritans, like the Karaites, employ a mostly straightforward interpretation of the Torah, they differ from the Karaites in that they do not accept most of the books of the Tanach and also have a slightly different version of the written Torah.
In general, Karaites do not claim any connection, whether actual or as kindred spirits, to the Samaritans, and consider them to be of non-Israelite origin.
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Yes. When you walk into a Karaite synagogue, you might notice that it looks more like a mosque than like a Rabbinical synagogue. Instead of rows of chairs, there are tapestried carpets on the floor. Of course, unlike a mosque, Karaite synagogues are dedicated to the worship of Yehowah, the god of Israel.
The primary reason for the carpets is so that the Karaite worshippers may bow down before Elohim (God). Bowing down to Elohim is mentioned myriad times throughout the Tanach as a symbol of submission and loyalty. For instance, Psalms 95:6 says "Come let us prostrate ourselves, bow down and bend our knees before Yehowah our maker."
At prescribed times during the prayer service, worshipers will leave their default seated position and assume a kneeling position with their heads touching the ground in the direction of the site of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. When that portion of the service is over, they return to the seated position.
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No. Despite the rumor spread for centuries by the Rabbis that Karaites wear tefillin directly between their eyes, in fact, Karaites do not wear tefillin at all, and never have.
The source of the rumor is the same as that of another age-old false rumor, that Kariates hang tzitzith (fringed garments) on the wall.
The source of most of these false rumors is the way Karaites traditionally interpret Exodus 35:3, as a complete prohibition against allowing any fires to be lit or even to remain burning during the Shabbat. While this literal interpretation has been questioned over the years by certain prominent Karaites, such as Sima Babovich, most Karaites have traditionally adhered to it and still do to this day. It is from here that the opponents of the Karaites began to claim that Karaites interpret the scriptures literally.
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No. Karaites consider traditional Christianity (any form of Christianity which holds that Jesus / Yehoshua has divine or semi-divine status) to be outright idol worship, in that it raises one of Elohim's creations to the level of creator, either in part or in full. Incidentally, this is precisely the view that Islam holds towards Christianity.
In addition, almost all Karaites completely reject Jesus / Yehoshua as a prophet and as a messiah that will return to reign over Israel. In this regard, Karaism differs from Islam, in that Islam holds Jesus / Yehoshua to be a prophet and, among certain Muslim sects, a future king over Israel.
There is a small minority of Karaites who consider Jesus / Yehoshua to be a teacher of rigtheousness, i.e. a man who fought for and preached truth, and who struggled against the corruption and injustices of his day. However, the Karaites who hold this belief reject any implication that Jesus / Yehoshua was anything more than a man. (This is the view that this website takes.)
Most traditional Karaites, however, are in line with the standard Jewish view that Jesus was a heretic.
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No. Most Karaites take a straightforward approach towards the verses which are interpreted by the Rabbis as calling for a separation between meat and milk, i.e. Exodus 23:19, Exodus 34:26 and Deuteronomy 14:21.
Karaites interpret these verses to mean that no mammal should be cooked in its own mother's milk, either because of the moral terpitude of the act in that it demonstrates great disrespect for the sacred institution of motherhood, or because cooking an animal in its mother's milk was a common ritual among idol worshiping sects of the ancient Near East.
Therefore, certain Kariates will eat meat and milk together (for instance, a cheeseburger using kosher meat and kosher cheese), although others will refrain due to the influence of the Rabbinical movement.
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Before we answer this question, it is important to point out that the name of the holiday is actually not "Passover" or "Pesah" at all. Rather, it is "Hag HaMazoth", the "Festival of Unleavened Bread". The name "Pesah" ("Passover") refers only to the lamb sacrifice that is brought on the preceding evening. Never once in the entire Tanach is the word "Pesah" used to refer to the holiday of Hag HaMazoth itself. Therefore, it is a mistake — ubiquitous among Rabbinical Jews — to call the holiday "Hag Pesah" or "Passover".
On the first night of Hag HaMazoth, which commences when the sun sinks below the horizon marking the beginning of the 15th day of the first (Biblical) month, Karaite families gather together to recount the story of the exodus from Egypt, as all Israel is commanded to do in Exodus 13:8.
In general, Karaites are very critical of the standard Rabbinical hagaddah, which they claim focuses far too little on the actual story of the exodus and far too much on Rabbinical anecdotes, traditions and midrashic (homiletical) interpretations.
Other Karaites interpret hametz to mean only "leavened bread". Karaites who hold by this interpretation will not eat bread, but will eat other fermented products. (This is the view held by this website.)
In either case, Karaites will not consume products that contain se'or (concentrated leavening agents) such as yeast, baking powder or baking soda, since this is prohibited in Exodus 13:7 and other places. Therefore, certain products that are permitted by the Rabbis are strictly forbidden by the Karaites, such as "Kosher for Passover" cakes containing potato starch and baking powder.
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This page will be updated in the near future with more questions and answers. If you would like to submit a question to be added to the FAQ, you may e-mail it to faq@KaraiteInsights.com.
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