List of Karaite Jews
Encyclopedia
People associated with Karaite Judaism
include:
Karaite Judaism
Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Jewish movement characterized by the recognition of the Tanakh alone as its supreme legal authority in Halakhah, as well as in theology...
include:
- Early Karaite Period — 8th-9th centuries (700-899 CE)
- ‘Anan ben DavidAnan ben DavidAnan Ben David is widely considered to be a major founder of the Karaite movement of Judaism. His followers were called Ananites and, like modern Karaites, do not believe the Rabbinic Jewish oral law to be divinely inspired...
— founder of the Annanites which would later be absorbed into Kara'ism - Benjamin al-Nahawandi — regarded by some as the proper originator of Kara'ism as it has come down through the ages
- ‘Anan ben David
- Golden Age — 10th-12th centuries (900-1199 CE)
- Aharon ben Mosheh ben AsherAaron ben Moses ben AsherAaron ben Moses ben Asher was a Jewish scribe who refined the Tiberian system for writing down vowel sounds in Hebrew, which is still in use today, and serves as the basis for grammatical analysis...
, (died c.960 CE) refiner of the Tiberian writing systemTiberian vocalizationThe Tiberian vocalization is a system of diacritics devised by the Masoretes to add to the consonantal Masoretic text of the Hebrew Bible; this system soon became used to vocalize other texts as well...
, regarded as having produced the most accurate version of the Masoretic TextMasoretic TextThe Masoretic Text is the authoritative Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible and is regarded as Judaism's official version of the Tanakh. While the Masoretic Text defines the books of the Jewish canon, it also defines the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their vocalization and... - Daniel al-QumisiDaniel al-KumisiDaniel al-Kumisi was one of the most prominent early scholars of Karaite Judaism. He flourished at the end of the ninth or at the beginning of the tenth century...
— Kara'ite scholar, polemicist, proto-Zionist, and compiler of the legal code Sefer ha-Mitzvot - Ya'akov QirqisaniJacob QirqisaniJacob Qirqisani was a Karaite dogmatist and exegete who flourished in the first half of the tenth century. He was a native of Circassia, which at the time probably still fell under Khazar overlordship...
— dogmatist, author, and exegete of the early 10th century - Yehudah HadasiJudah HadassiJudah ben Elijah Hadassi was a Karaite Jewish scholar, controversialist, and liturgist who flourished at Constantinople in the middle of the twelfth century...
— 12th century scholar, philosopher, and grammarian from ConstantinopleConstantinopleConstantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:... - Solomon ben JerohamSolomon ben JerohamSolomon ben Jeroham, in Arabic Sulaym ibn Ruhaym, was a Karaite exegete and controversialist who flourished at Jerusalem between 940 and 960. He was considered one of the greatest authorities among the Karaites, by whom he is called "the Wise" , and who mention him after Benjamin Nahawendi in their...
— exegete and controversialist - Yefet ben AliYefet ben AliYefet ben Ali was perhaps the foremost Karaite commentator on the Bible, during the "Golden Age of Karaism". He lived during the 10th century, a native of Basra Later in his life, he moved to Jerusalem, between 950 and 980, where he died...
— BabyloniaBabyloniaBabylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
n commentator on the Bible - Yüedi Kür - Khazar leader with Karaite religion, see Alsószentmihály Rovas inscriptionAlsószentmihály inscriptionThe inscription on a building stone was found in Mihai Viteazu, Cluj .- The relic :The stone was an ancient Roman building stone--proved by the leaf-symbol, a frequently applied ornamental element of ancient Roman inscriptions--reused in the 10th century...
- Aharon ben Mosheh ben Asher
- Middle Period — 13th-17th century (1200-1699 CE)
- Aaron ben Elijah of NicomediaAaron ben ElijahAaron ben Elijah , the Latter, of Nicomedia is often considered to be the most prominent Karaite theologian...
, (1328/9-1369) perhaps the most prominent Kara'ite theologian, considered the Kara'ite equivalent of his rabbinic contemporary, MaimonidesMaimonidesMoses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages... - Elijah BashyaziElijah BashyaziElijah ben Moses Bashyazi of Adrianople or Elijah Bašyazi was a Karaite Jewish hakham of the fifteenth century...
, (1420-1490) HakhamHakhamHakham is a term from Judaism, meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great Torah scholar. The word is generally used to designate a cultured and learned person: "He who says a wise thing is called a wise man ["hakham"], even if he be not a Jew"...
who codified Kara'ite laws - Yiṣḥaq b. Avraham of Troki — 16th century Lithuanian Kara'ite philosopher and writer who wrote the important apology or defense of Judaism vis-a-vis Christianity entitled Ḥizzuq Emunah (Fortification of Faith)
- Aaron ben Elijah of Nicomedia
- Early-Modern Era — 18th-19th centuries (1700-1947 CE)
- Abram Samoilovitch BesicovitchAbram Samoilovitch BesicovitchAbram Samoilovitch Besicovitch was a Russian mathematician, who worked mainly in England. He was born in Berdyansk on the Sea of Azov to a Karaite family.-Life and career:...
(1891-1970), RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n-English mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change.... - Adolph JoffeAdolph JoffeAdolph Abramovich Joffe was a Communist revolutionary, a Bolshevik politician and a Soviet diplomat of Karaim descent.-Revolutionary career:...
, (1883-1927) Russian communist revolutionaryRevolutionaryA revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
, BolshevikBolshevikThe Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
politician, SovietSoviet UnionThe Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
diplomatDiplomatA diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and... - Avraham Firkovich — a famous leader of the Crimean KaraitesCrimean KaraitesThe Crimean Karaites , also known as Karaim and Qarays, are a community of ethnic Turkic adherents of Karaite Judaism in Eastern Europe...
, a very important collector of manuscripts, who was an amateur archeologist - Jacob TamarkinJacob TamarkinJacob David Tamarkin was a Russian-American mathematician best known for his work in mathematical analysis.- Biography :Tamarkin was born in Chernigov, Imperial Russia to a wealthy family. His father, David Tamarkin, was a physician and his mother, Sophie Krassilschikov, a member of the landed...
(1888–1945), a Russian-American mathematician - Rodion MalinovskyRodion MalinovskyRodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky was a Soviet military commander in World War II and Defense Minister of the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and 1960s. He contributed to the major defeat of Nazi Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Budapest...
, (1898-1967) Soviet Marshal and Minister of Defense - Samuel MaykaparSamuel MaykaparSamuil Moiseevich Maykapar was a Russian romantic composer, pianist, professor of music at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, and author of outstanding piano practice pieces that became international grand classics....
, (1867–1938) a Soviet composer - Seraya ShapshalSeraya ShapshalSeraya Shapshal or Haji Seraya Hachan Shapshal was a hakham and leader of the Crimean and then Lithuanian Karaim community....
, (1873-1961) ḥakham of the LithuaniaLithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n Karaite community - Sima BabovichSima BabovichSima ben Salomon Babovich was a Hakham of the Crimean Karaites, one of the early figures in the Karaim movement....
, (1790-1855), ḥakham of the Crimean KaraitesCrimean KaraitesThe Crimean Karaites , also known as Karaim and Qarays, are a community of ethnic Turkic adherents of Karaite Judaism in Eastern Europe...
- Abram Samoilovitch Besicovitch
- Current-Modern Era — 20th-21st centuries (1948 CE-present)
- Avrom Aryeh-Zuk Kahana — author of the Kahana Chronicles series of books and publisher of the website blog "Kahana's Voice"
- Avraham Kefeli — Ḥazzan in Ashdod, IsraelIsraelThe State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
- Avraham Qanaï — Ḥakham of the Kara'ite congregation “Oraḥ Ṣaddiqim” in AlbanyAlbany, New YorkAlbany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east... - Joe Pessah — congregation leader of congregation B'nai Y'israel in Daly City, California
- Meir RekhaviMeir RekhaviMeir Yosef Rekhavi , is a Karaite Hakham currently living in London, England. Rekhavi is the Chancellor of the Karaite Jewish University and a founding member of the University which was created in November 2005...
— prominent ḥakham, author and co-founder of the World Karaite Movement. Currently he holds the position of Chancellor for the Karaite Jewish University - Moshe MarzoukMoshe MarzoukMoshe Marzouk was an Egyptian Karaite Jew, hanged by Egypt in 1955 for plotting terrorist attacks in Cairo known as Operation Suzannah.Marzouk was born in Cairo to a Karaite family who had immigrated from Tunisia in the early 20th century, though they retained French citizenship...
(1926-1955) Egyptian Kara'ite Jew, hanged by Egypt for his participation in Israel's Operation Suzannah, also called the Lavon AffairLavon AffairThe Lavon Affair refers to a failed Israeli covert operation, code named Operation Susannah, conducted in Egypt in the Summer of 1954. As part of the false flag operation, a group of Egyptian Jews were recruited by Israeli military intelligence for plans to plant bombs inside Egyptian, American and... - Nehemia GordonNehemia GordonNehemia Gordon is a well known Karaite Jew Hakham. He was born to an Orthodox Jewish family with a long line of Rabbis, but rejected the Talmud and became a Karaite Jew as a teenager...
— arguably the best known Kara'ite Jew of this era, an author/scholar, and co-founder of the World Karaite Movement - Moshe Yosef Firrouz — Chief Rabbi and Vice-Chancellor of Karaite Jewish University; Rabbi Firrouz maintains the Karim.net website