Alex Sinclair is a thinker. Just ask him. He’ll tell you. Unfortunately for him – and for his readers – his thought process short-circuited about 1000 years ago, during a time when polemics were commonplace and marginalization was fully accepted.
Alex Sinclair Is Using Karaites to Manipulate You
Filed under Alex Sinclair
$1000 Bounty: Prove who wrote Yah Zimrati
Where I first Learned Yah Zimrati
I hated Yah Zimrati the first time I tried to learn the melody. I really did. It was about a 8 years ago, and the Karaite Jews of America was hosting a Shabbaton. If I recall correctly, it was the same weekend we announced to everyone that we’d be remodeling our synagogue. We had about 20 people in from out of town and we were extremely blessed to have Gal Shemuel visit us from Southern California. We were blessed until he tried to teach us the melody for Yah Zimrati.
Filed under Uncategorized, Yehudah Gibbor, Yovel Musa
My Review of Daniel Lasker’s Book, “Karaism” (Reader Poll)
I love this book. It is a perfect overview and amazing introduction to Karaite Judaism. Even I – who has been studying Karaite Judaism formally for 20+ years (and informally my entire life) – learned a tremendous amount from this book. After the jump, you can watch my video review of the book, and you can also vote on which book I do a video review of next. I’ll also describe more parts of the book that I absolutely love – and one part that I absolutely disagree with.
$500 Bounty: Prove whether Ronnu Shamayim was written by a Karaite or Rabbanite
I’ve had enough guessing, enough speculation and enough supposition. I want someone – ANYONE – to bring me definitive proof of whether Elyakim, the author of Ronnu Shamayim, was a Karaite or Rabbanite. And I’m putting up a $500 bounty (or rather The Karaite Press is). We know with certainty that Ronnu Shamayim is probably the greatest Shavuot melody of all time. Now we need to know who wrote the poem.
Why I’m Teaching a Course at Judaism Unbound – and Why You Should Register
I am so excited to teach a course through Judaism Unbound’s UnYeshiva. My course is called Traditionally Unbound and is a crash course on Karaite Judaism. You might be thinking to yourself, “Why is Shawn teaching a formal course through another organization?” The answer is easy.
Filed under Uncategorized
The Karaite Press’ Shidduch Guarantee (20% off)
This Book Will Not Affect Your Shidduch Chances: GUARANTEED
Look, I get it. You live in a community of observant Rabbanites. You’ve all heard of Karaites, but none of you really knows too much about us, except: “HERETICS!” Or maybe: “HERETICS!” Or how about: “HERETICS!”
I know that in many respects this is more sociological than theological. So, I’m going to make you an offer you can’t refuse.
Filed under Uncategorized
Karaite Dreams Do Come True: 500 Donor Challenge
I can’t believe it’s been over 10 years since I started A Blue Thread. In that time, millions and millions (as The Rock would say) of people have read my posts. Okay, that’s not true. But still, shout out to The Rock. What is true is that in that time, so many of my Karaite dreams have come true.
Today, I am issuing a challenge: I am hoping to get 500 people to donate to any of the following causes sponsored by the Karaite Jews of America: The Karaite Press; The KJA’s Campaign for the Future; or The KJA’s Needy Fund.
This isn’t a goal to raise a certain amount of money (really: donate $10, $42, $72 dollars – any amount is great). Instead, I want the most amount of people possible donating money. So I am setting my goal this year at a modest 500 people between now and April 2.
(If you feel inclined, in addition to donating, please share this post with your family and friends asking them to support our work as well.)
Filed under Donate
