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
Karaites: No Longer the World’s Best Kept Secret
A talk that surprisingly to me featured Karaites
When I was a child, I constantly heard my uncle – the then acting rabbi of the Karaite Jews of America – say that whenever people visit us, they feel like we – the living Karaites in the 1980s – are the best kept secret in Judaism. While I always appreciated the sentiment, I never wanted Karaites or Karaism to be a secret. (Here, I note that many Egyptian Karaites who came to the United States actually kept their Karaite origins a secret from their Jewish communities.) Today, I take a quick look at some things that show the secret is out.
Filed under Books, Shabbat Candles
My Birkat Hamazon is Wrong, But It’s Better Than Yours
My Birkat brings all the boys to the yard, I can teach and I won’t even charge. Or something like that. About a year ago, I was caught in what appeared at the time to be a mind-numbing debate over some minutiae regarding a single word in the Birkat Hamazon that appears in Karaite texts. It turns out the debate was not mind-numbing at all and a simple look through the Cairo Geniza would have solved the whole issue and explained a whole lot more.
Filed under Eli Shmuel, Geniza, James Walker, Liturgy, Neria Haroeh, Nir Nissim, Prayer, Siddur
