A Blue Thread - Page 22 of 30 - A Jewish Blog with a Thread of Karaite Throughout

August 1, 2013 · 6:00 am

August Book Review, Interview & Giveaway: Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence

Today, A Blue Thread launches our Fall 2013 Book Club – yes, I know it’s still summer –and I thought the perfect place to start was with a book review, interview and free giveaway of 10 signed copies of Nehemia Gordon’s latest book, Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence: The Hebrew Power of the Priestly Blessing Unleashed.

I first met Nehemia in person some 20+ years ago at a camp hosted by the Karaite Jews of America, and I spent a few years with him in the Karaites Yahoo Groups forum in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I credit that forum with re-awakening my Karaite passion, so it is particularly fun for me to catch up with Nehemia about Shattering the Conspiracy of Silence.

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Filed under Book Club, Books, Daniel al-Kumisi, Divine Name

July 18, 2013 · 6:00 am

A Book Reflection: “Savior’s Day”

My copy of Alan A. Winter’s Savior’s Day. Quite a read!

I love reading anything that raises the profile of Karaites, even when the work is fictional. So, I thought I’d offer some thoughts on Alan A. Winter’s Savior’s Day, a recently published novel that mentions Karaites quite prominently.

Savior’s Day is historical fiction about a series of murders tied to the lost pages of the Aleppo Codex. It is a tale that spans centuries and takes us through many of the Middle Ages’ greatest Jewish communities: Jerusalem, Tiberias, Fostat, and Aleppo.

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Filed under Aleppo Codex, ben Asher, Books, What is Karaite Judaism, Yaqub al-Qirqisani

July 8, 2013 · 6:00 am

Tefillin the Blanks

Kara the Karaite and Robby the Rabbanite
sure have their differences.

When I was nine or ten, the rabbi at the conservative synagogue where I received my Jewish education asked me a simple question: “Shawn, do Karaites wear tefillin?”

I knew that I had never seen a set of tefillin anywhere near my Karaite community. But instead of saying “no,” I lied and told him that Karaites did wear tefillin. (Sorry, Rabbi!)

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Filed under Kara, Kara & Robby, Robby, Tefillin

June 24, 2013 · 6:00 am

There are Dozens of Us! Dozens!

Tobias Funke: Not a Karaite - but likely can relate. (Source: TobiasFunke.com)

Tobias Funke: techellet dying accident?
(Source: TobiasFunke.com)

With apologies to Arrested Development . . . Perhaps there are more Karaites out there than the world is ready to acknowledge.

A week ago, I had occasion to spend Shabbat at the house of an orthodox Rabbanite family in San Jose, CA. When I arrived on Friday afternoon, one of my wonderful hosts began to tell me about an amazing occurrence.

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3 Comments

Filed under Arrested Development, Daud Hosni, Michelle Chamuel, Tobias Funke

June 13, 2013 · 6:00 am

The Leningrad Codex: Rabbanites are Awesome (too)!

So it turns out that many medieval Rabbanites from the Land of Israel and the surrounding environs deserve a badge of interdenominational awesomeness as well.

And traces of this awesomeness run from Cairo in the early 11th century all the way to the Rabbanites of Egypt in the years following the birth of the State of Israel. Again, don’t take my word for it.
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Filed under Aleppo Codex, Karaite Rabbanite Relations, Samuel ben Jacob, Zionism

June 4, 2013 · 6:00 am

The Aleppo Codex: Proof that Karaites are Awesome

Only part of my proof that Karaites are awesome.

My law school classmates know that I’m not one to throw around a highly-technical term like “proof” willy-nilly. And I certainly would never use a phrase like “beyond a reasonable doubt” without good reason.

So, when I say that the Aleppo Codex is “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that Karaites are awesome, I mean it in the most legalistic way possible. But you don’t have to take my word for it. In fact, as a Karaite, I have to tell you not to rely on my opinion.

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Filed under Aleppo Codex, ben Asher, Books, Jerusalem

May 23, 2013 · 6:00 am

Sandy Koufax, Meet Rotem Cohen

The cover of one of the sections of Israel’s Ma’ariv newspaper, featuring Rotem Cohen after he decided not to compete on Shavuot.

Many are aware that Sandy Koufax, the legendary Dodgers pitcher, decided not to pitch in Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur.

In 2011, Rotem Cohen, an Israeli Karaite Jew, decided not to participate live in the Israeli vocal talent show A Star is Born (Hebrew: Kochav Nolad*), when one of the rounds of the competition fell on the Karaite Shavuot. His decision affected his chances to advance on the show. But Rotem doesn’t regret a thing.

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8 Comments

Filed under Calendar, Holidays, Karaite Press, Karaites in Israel, Shavuot