by Daniel J. Lasker

Each of us has reacted to the coronavirus pandemic in our own way. My way of coping with the restrictions on mobility and travel was to produce a book which I had felt for a long time would be useful to both the academic and the general reading public: Karaism: An Introduction to the Oldest Surviving Alternative Judaism (The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization). Most people with a cursory knowledge of Jewish history are aware that there was a Jewish movement called Karaism which did not follow rabbinic Judaism, the religious choice of the majority of Jews (known in this context as Rabbanites). Beyond that, the little information about Karaism that is available is often more misinformation than historical truth; the fact that there are still Karaite communities to this day is almost completely unknown. Despite the historical importance of the Karaite movement, in the Middle Ages and beyond, and the many fine academic studies of its various aspects, until now there has been no one comprehensive introduction to Karaism as a distinct, alternative Judaism. My book is intended to fill this gap in Jewish intellectual history.

Karaism emerged in the medieval Jewish world, even though it may very well have more ancient roots. Rabbanite historiography attributes the Karaite schism to the personal pique of the eighth-century Anan ben David, denied the position of civil head of the Babylonian Jewish community (the Exilarch) which he felt was rightly his (although Anan’s group were Ananites, not Karaites, and only later was Anan retroactively seen by Karaites as one of their own). Karaites, in contrast, argue that Karaism is the original, authentic Judaism, and only because of historical circumstances in the Second Temple period did rabbinic Judaism arise and become dominant. Non-partisan historians reject both narratives but are not sure how exactly to explain why this distinct form of Judaism took shape under ninth-century Islam and whether it was related to earlier, other non-rabbinic Jewish groups. From the late ninth century until the late eleventh century, Karaites enjoyed a “Golden Age” in the Land of Israel, during which they standardized their practices and beliefs. At the time, they thrived intellectually and demographically, presenting a substantial challenge to the majority Rabbanites. Karaism has been marked since by a slow rapprochement with rabbinic Judaism, without the sacrifice of its unique religious practices. Today, there are probably no more than 50000 Karaites worldwide.

I first read Karaite texts as an undergraduate under the tutelage of my late, revered teacher, Prof. Alexander Altmann, z”l. A consummate medievalist, Prof. Altmann saw Karaite texts as integral parts of the Jewish tradition, referencing them in his magisterial studies of Jewish intellectual history. It was only natural, therefore, that in my doctoral dissertation on the use of philosophy in Jewish-Christian polemics, written under his guidance, I sought out Karaite texts (the second edition of the published version, Jewish Philosophical Polemics against Christianity in the Middle Ages, was also published by Littman). The fact that Rabbanites and Karaites engaged in intramural polemics with each other did not prevent them from a joint venture of refuting Christian claims. In fact, one of the best-selling anti-Christian Jewish polemics ever written is Isaac ben Abraham of Troki’s Hizzuq Emunah, which was translated into multiple languages and whose Rabbanite readers probably did not identify the author as a non-rabbinic Jew.

Study of Karaite intellectual achievements enriches our knowledge of other aspects of medieval Jewish civilization. Some Jewish scholars once proffered a “pan-Karaite theory” of Jewish culture which saw every important area of Jewish endeavor to be ultimately Karaite or a reaction to Karaism. While this theory is somewhat exaggerated, it is important to remember that in the Middle Ages, there were important Karaite biblical commentators, linguists, and theologians, whose works were well-known to their Rabbanite counterparts. Saadia Gaon, usually considered the Karaites’ chief nemesis, reacted to Karaism in many ways, both in specifically polemical works but also in non-polemical contexts. Abraham ibn Ezra’s biblical commentaries are replete with Karaite interpretations (often uncredited) as well as explicit anti-Karaite polemic. Judah Halevi devoted around a tenth of his Kuzari to anti-Karaite polemic, and Maimonides was well aware of contemporary Karaism, modifying his extreme anti-Karaite stance while in Spain and Morocco (allowing their execution as heretics) to a more accepting view of them after arriving in Egypt (those born into Karaism are not to be blamed for rejecting rabbinic Judaism and one “should not hurry to execute them”). Just as Maimonides changed the face of rabbinic Judaism, he also was a decisive force in Karaism, and later Karaites, forgetting his negative views of them, often considered him to be a secret Karaite whom they regarded as a cultural hero.

My new book, Karaism: An Introduction to the Oldest Surviving Alternative Judaism, provides a broad overview to Karaite Judaism, covering the whole range of Karaite history and intellectual achievements in the larger context of Jewish civilization. It begins with the thorny question of Karaite origins and how they relate to trends in Judaism going back to the Second Temple as well as to the Islamic environment in which Karaism emerged. It then treats the major periods in Karaite history: The Golden Age in the Land of Israel (ninth to eleventh centuries); the transformation of diaspora Karaism in Byzantium (eleventh to sixteenth centuries); the flourishing of Karaites in Eastern Europe until they eventually broke away from the Jewish People and survived the Holocaust (fifteenth-twentieth centuries); and the present day Karaite communities in Israel and the Bay Area of California. A full description of Karaite religious practices, and how they differ from Rabbanite procedures, is provided, along with the principles of the Karaite religion. In addition, Karaite accomplishments in the fields of theology, biblical exegesis, polemics, historiography and linguistics are summarized. Finally, the likelihood of Karaite continuity after 1200 years is evaluated.

Prof. Daniel J. Lasker is the Norbert Blechner Professor of Jewish Values (emeritus) in the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel. He holds a Ph.D., M.A. and B.A. from Brandeis University, and also studied at Hebrew University. Prof. Lasker has taught at Yale University, Princeton University, University of Toronto, Ohio State University, University of Texas, University of Washington, Yeshiva University, Boston College and other institutions. He is the author of over two hundred fifty publications in the fields of medieval Jewish philosophy, especially on the thought of Rabbi Judah Halevi; the Jewish-Christian debate, including the edition of a number of central Jewish polemical texts; and Karaism. He can be reached at: lasker@bgu.ac.il.

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