We are happy to announce the publication of a series of Karaite fact cards. Each card provides a light and easily digestible introduction to various topics in Karaite Judaism. We’ll make a print set of the cards available in the coming months; for now, please enjoy a digital version of the first card in the series.
At times, I have felt somewhat like Brendan Fraser’s character, David Greene, in School Ties. David grew up in a middle (maybe even lower-middle) class Jewish family in Scranton, Pennsylvania. David receives a scholarship to a prep school in Massachusetts, but tries to hide his Jewish identity from his new classmates. The movie is set in the 1950s and David faces severe anti-Semitism when one of his classmates (played by Matt Damon) finds out that David is Jewish.
I’ve never actually kept my Jewish identity a secret (and I’ve only faced anti-Semitism on a handful of occasions); but until relatively recently, I have kept my identity as a Karaite Jew somewhat private in religious Jewish circles.
Filed under K Bomb, Mission Minyan, School Ties
“Jews come in many shapes and colors. One of the strangest is the Karaites, founded in the 7th century by a charismatic Jew named Anan Ben David. He totally rejected the holiness of the Talmud and strictly obeyed only the 613 mitzvot found in the Torah.”
– Lurie: The double mystery of the Cairo codex
(May, 2, 2012; SunSentinel.com)
I always knew that being a Karaite Jew made me unique. But thanks to the above article, everyone now thinks I’m strange.
The Cairo Codex
Source: The Ancient Standard
I met Mr. Lurie, the article’s author, during Passover 2012, when he visited Congregation B’nai Israel, home of the Karaite Jews of America. Mr. Lurie came across as a very warm individual, so I was delighted to speak with him about Karaite Judaism and his research on the Cairo Codex. He even wrote a follow-up article about his time with us.
I commend Mr. Lurie for making the trek from (normally) sunny South Florida to (normally) overcast Daly City; but his view of Karaite Judaism is, well, very Rabbanite-centric.
Filed under Cairo Codex, Karaite Jews of America, Karaite Origins
Tevye: Wonderful Man. . . Not a Karaite Image Source: Broadway/San Diego Blog
In the 1998 classic film, The Big Lebowski, the Dude (played by Jeff Bridges) accuses Walter Sobchek (played by John Goodman) of not being Jewish. Walter lashes back with one of the tirades for which his character is known, culminating in a proclamation: “I’m as Jewish as . . . Tevye!”
Tevye, of course, is the patriarch of an orthodox Jewish family in one of the greatest musicals of all time, Fiddler on the Roof. Walter’s response to the Dude conveys what most people inherently believe to be true: Tevye is the personification of an observant Jew.
Tevye has a beard. He wears traditional tzitzit. He covers his head at (just about) all times. His family dresses tsniyus.
Filed under Fiddler on The Roof, Tevye, The Big Lebowski
