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?”
The Karaite Jews of America’s Booth at JFNA’s TribeFest.
Eli Shmuel and I are here in New Orleans at the Jewish Federation of North America’s TribeFest 2014 – which is awesome so far. Over Shabbat, Eli and I were discussing whether we (Karaites, Rabbanites, others) know the true color of techellet.
And the conversation led me to one of the most profound realizations of my young life.
Filed under Eli Shmuel, JFNA TribeFest, Moshe Firrouz, Techellet
From my talk on the role of women in Karaite Judaism.
I did not plan for this post to coincide with Women’s History Month; that’s just how the timing worked out. On February 24, 2014, I gave a talk to the Karaite Jews of America. The talk was called “She Speaks with Authority: The Religious Standing of Karaite Jewish Women from the Middle Ages through Today.”
The video appears after the jump with some notes on the talk.
Filed under Maimonides, Women in Karaism
From my talk on the role of women in Karaite Judaism.
I haven’t been on this intense Karaite journey for too long; so I still get surprised by interesting facts on a regular basis. But during my recent talk on the religious standing of women in Karaite Judaism, I was surprised by what surprised me.
I didn’t even see it coming.
Continue reading
Filed under Karaite Jews of America, Shechita, Women in Karaism
Eli Shmuel crushes it in his talk about the future of Karaites in Israel.
On Sunday, February 23, 2014, Eli Shmuel gave a 15 minute talk to the Karaite Jews of America on the rejuvenation of the Karaite Jewish movement in Israel. It’s been just over a year since I pondered whether 2013 would be a Karaite tipping point and or whether Karaite Judaism would even survive another generation.
So let’s hear what Eli has to say about the issue . . .
Filed under Eli Shmuel, State of the Movement, videos
Prepping for Purim, the Festival of Lights.
http://wp.me/p43Sek-du
I won $10 yesterday at the Karaite Jews of America’s Purim party. My dad said that he thought it was one of the congregation’s biggest turnouts in years.
I think that God was rewarding me and the KJA for celebrating Purim at the appropriate time, in the 12th month. My dad laughs when I say things like this.
Filed under Holidays, Karaite Jews of America, Purim
Professor Lasker provides direct translations of many classical Karaite works.
Most religious Jews are aware of Maimonides’ 13 principles of faith. But Maimonides himself was not even the first person of his era to compose principles of faith.
It turns out that Maimonides was beat to the punch by the 12th Century Karaite Sage Judah Hadassi. Today, we’ll examine whether Hadassi was the first to create such a list and we provide a video by Eli Shmuel discussing Haddassi’s principles of faith.
Filed under Daniel Lasker, Eli Shmuel, Judah Hadassi, Maimonides
