Category Archives: Karaite Rabbanite Relations

November 6, 2014 · 6:00 am

Exclusive Report: Inside the Israeli Supreme Court’s Karaite Slaughtering Case

From Yediot Aharanot: Questions and Answers with Hakham Rashi Moshe Firrouz about the recent ban on Karaite slaughter.

On September 17, 2014, the Israeli Supreme Court held a hearing on whether the Israeli religious authorities (the “Rabbanut”) can withhold kosher certification from Rabbinically slaughtered poultry in independent slaughterhouses simply because a slaughterhouse also lets Karaites slaughter poultry in the same facility. (The slaughterhouses at issue only deal with poultry.)

I first reported on this issue prior to Pesach, when Chief Hakham Moshe Firrouz was interviewed by an Israeli news service. And today, I catch up with Tomer Mangoubi, author of Mikdash Me’at, who was inside the Israeli Supreme Court during the hearing.

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Filed under Karaite Rabbanite Relations, Moshe Firrouz, Shechita

September 29, 2014 · 6:00 am

Book Review & Interview: A Delightful Compendium by Rabbi Burton Visotzky

This wonderful book is available at Amazon:

A few weeks ago, I had breakfast with someone who was planning to start Rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary. After the meeting, he emailed me about a book called A Delightful Compendium of Consolation by Rabbi Burton Visotzky, who teaches at JTS.

A Delightful Compendium is historical fiction and traces the lives of a Karaite Jewish family as they navigate through the Middle Ages. The family members struggle to hold onto their Karaite identity as a minority in the Jewish world.

Today, I am excited to catch up with Rabbi Visotzky about his book, A Delightful Compendium.

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Filed under Books, Karaite Rabbanite Relations, Kashrut, Marriages, Matrilineal Descent, Milk and Meat, Mourners of Zion

June 18, 2014 · 6:00 am

Old Pirates, New Terrorists and Redeeming Captives

Three Abducted Israeli Teens
(Source: Times of Israel)

Last week, the Jewish world was rocked by (yet again) news that three Israeli citizens had been abducted by Palestinian terrorists. I don’t profess any particular insight as to what to do about this (recurring) situation. Nor do I believe these latest abductions will be the last.

Today, I simply pray for their safe return and highlight the need for Jewish unity at times like this.

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Six Questions & Answers: Two Rabbanites & the Karaite Shul

The scene of cross-denominational dialogue

Around Passover, Sara and Elijah, two students from a Talmud study group at UC Berkeley’s (Go Bears!) Hillel, spent the weekend at the Karaite synagogue in Daly City. Not only did they join us for Shabbat prayers, they actually prostrated in the traditional Karaite fashion.

I recently posed six questions to them about their experience at the synagogue.

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Filed under Karaite Rabbanite Relations, Karaite Synagogues

April 1, 2014 · 6:00 am

Not All Jews Can Observe Passover Free From Oppression

From Yediot Aharanot: Questions and Answers with Hakham Rashi Moshe Firrouz about the recent ban on Karaite slaughter.

Those who follow the blog regularly know that I have tremendous respect for the Rabbinic tradition. (See here and here.) Heck, I have even professed my “support” for the Rabbanut.

But, at some point, you just have to call a foul on the Israeli religious authorities and ask your fellow Jews a simple question: “What kind of Jewish world do you want to live in?”

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Filed under Eli Shmuel, Karaite Rabbanite Relations, Karaites in Israel, Kashrut, Moshe Firrouz, Shechita, Uncategorized

January 8, 2014 · 6:00 am

“The Jewish Community Today is Ailing”

Joe A. Wahed (Z”L) passed away on 12/31/13

This past Sunday, the Jewish community of the San Francisco Bay Area said good-bye to one of its most cherished members. Joseph A. Wahed, a Karaite Jew born in Egypt and active member of the Karaite Jews of America, was laid to rest.

As was repeated throughout the funeral, Wahed avoided intra-Jewish polemics and diatribes, and made no distinction in the level of respect he showed Jews of all movements and denominations (Rabbanites, Karaites, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform). Wahed’s attitudes toward his Jewish brethren echoed a letter written by a Rabbanite about 1000 years ago.

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Filed under Dr. Rustow, JIMENA, Karaite Jews of America, Karaite Rabbanite Relations

November 4, 2013 · 6:00 am

November Book Review & Give-Away: The Karaite Jews of Egypt

I don’t believe I’d ever met Mourad El-Kodsi (at least not when I was old enough to remember), but everyone says he had a special spirit. Despite his failing health, he worked tirelessly to finish the Second Edition of his magnum opus, The Karaite Jews of Egypt (1882-1986). He passed away just a few months after the book went to print, and today his work is a must have.

The Karaite Jews of America has generously donated 18 copies of the book’s Second Edition for A Blue Thread’s November 2013 give-away.

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Filed under Book Club, Karaite Jews of America, Karaite Rabbanite Relations, Karaite Synagogues