What is are Karaite Jews? Are they like the messianics?

Answer 1

The primary schism between Karaites and Rabbinic Jews revolves around the Oral Law. The Karaites do not accept its existence and instead consider it a fabrication of the Rabbis. To them, all have a right to interpret the text, and anything that makes sense suffices. One classic example of this difference is the tzitzit, or the fringes one must tie to a garment. Rabbinic Jews believe that there are certain knots that one must tie, while Karaites believe that any knot will suffice, as it says only that one must tie a knot. They are not like messianics in that they don't accept Jesus (not in the Old Testament after all).

Answer 2

The Karaite Jews are movement different from the messianic movement.

Answer 3

I can't tell much about a Karaite Jew, since I have a friend and I don't know a lot about them. But they read the Tanach and the book of Matthew in the christian bible.

They are not like messianics, cuz messianic believe Jesus is the messiah but they do call Jesus by the Hebrew name just like the messianics. They believe Jesus was a torah observant Rabbi not the messiah as messianics do.

Answer 4

Messianic Judaism is really Xianity.

Karaite Jews reject the oral law. They, like mainstream Jews, do not believe in J*sus.
For more info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karaites
Jewish view of J*sus:
http://www.whatjewsbelieve.org/

Answer 5

Karaite Jews are from a country called Karaite. I am sure that is why they call themselves like that. It is like the Yemenite Jews, they are from Yemen.

Answer 6

Karaite Judaism or Karaism (Hebrew: קָרָאִים, Standard Qaraʾim Tiberian Qārāʾîm ; meaning: Readers [of Scripture]) is a Jewish movement characterized by the sole reliance on the Tanakh as scripture, and the rejection of the Oral Law (the Mishnah and the Talmud) as halakha (Legally Binding, i.e., required religious practice). The word "Karaite" comes from the Hebrew word קָרָאִים meaning "Readers [of Scripture]". This name was chosen by the adherents of Karaite Judaism to distinguish themselves from the adherents of Rabbinic Judaism. They originated in Baghdad, which is in present day Iraq.

When interpreting scripture, Karaites strive to adhere only to the p'shat (plain meaning) of the text. This is in contrast to Rabbinical Judaism, which employs the methods of p'shat, remez (implication or clue), drash ("deep interpretation," based on breaking down individual words, e.g., breaking down "be'ra'****" to "beit" "ra'****" which means two startings of) and sod ("secret," the deeper meaning of the text, drawing on the Kabbalah). In modern times Karaite Judaism has formed its own independent Jewish organization, and is not a member of any Rabbinic organization.

Today there are approximately 30,000 Karaites in the world, with 20,000-25,000 of them living in Israel,[1] mostly in Ramla, Ashdod and Beersheba.

Answer 7

Karaim, from the Hebrew word קראים, meaning "readers", refers in the literal sense generally to practitioners of the Karaite sect of Judaism. In customary usage, however, it is often used to refer to the distinct Turkic-speaking Karaite community of Crimea and the related community of Karaites living in Lithuania and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, as well as to their language.
The Karaites believe in an eternal, one, and incorporeal God, Creator of Universe, who gave the Tanakh to humankind, through Moses and the Prophets. Karaites trust in the Divine providence and hope for the coming of the Messiah.
Theoretically, most historical Karaites would not object to the idea of a body of interpretation of the Torah, along with extensions and development of halakha. In fact, several hundred such books have been written by various Karaite sages throughout the movement's history, though most are lost today. The disagreement arises over the perceived exaltation of the Talmud and the writings of the Rabbis above that of the Torah, so that, in the view of Karaites, many traditions and customs are kept which are in contradiction with those expressed in the Torah. This is seen especially by the fact that the Karaites also have their own traditions which have been passed down from their ancestors and religious authorities. This is known as "Sevel HaYerushah", which means "the yoke of inheritance." It is kept primarily by traditional Egyptian Karaites, and any tradition therein is rejected if it contradicts the simple meaning of the Torah.

For those Karaites who do not have such an "inheritance" or "tradition," they tend to rely heavily upon just the Torah and those practices found within it, as well as adapting Biblical practices into their own cultural context. This lack of tradition could be for many reasons; one is that many modern Karaites are the result of the Karaite revival in large part due to the World Karaite Movement, a revival group started by Nehemia Gordon and Meir Rekhavi in the early 90's. Another may be the fact that Karaite communities are so small and generally isolated that their members generally adopt the customs of their host country. A prime example of this would be the beginnings of cultural assimilation of traditional Israeli Karaites into mainstream society.

As with other Jews, during the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat), Karaites attend synagogues to worship and to offer prayers. However, most Karaites refrain from sexual relations on the day. Their prayer books are composed almost completely of biblical passages. Karaites often practice full prostration during prayers, while most other Jews only pray in this fashion on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
Karaism appears to be a combination from various Jewish groups in Mesopotamia, that rejected the Talmudic tradition as an innovation. Some suggest that the major impetus for the formation of Karaism was a reaction to the rise of Islam,[3] which recognized Judaism as a fellow monotheistic faith, but claimed that it detracted from this Monotheism by deferring to rabbinical authority: “Given the number of Jews that voluntarily accepted Islam during the early period, this theory is quite plausible in that those that did not become Muslim defended their beliefs by rejecting rabbinical authority.

In the IX century Anan ben David and his followers absorbed sects such the Isawites (followers of Abu Isa al-Isfahani), Yudghanites and the remnants of the pre-talmudic Sadducees and Boethusians. Anan led a polemic with the rabbinical establishment and later non-Ananist sects emerged, like the Ukbarites.

The dispute of the rabbanite Gaon Saadiah and the Karaites helped to consolidate the split between them.

In the early 1950s, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate originally objected to the arrival of Karaite Jewish immigrants in the country and unsuccessfully tried to obstruct it.

Moshe Marzouk, one of the Egyptian Jews executed in 1954 for planting bombs at Cairo in the service of Israeli Military Intelligence (the Lavon Affair) was a Karaite. Branded a terrorist by the Egyptians, in Israel he was considered a hero and martyr; however, his Karaite identity was downplayed in official publications, which usually just described him as "an Egyptian Jew".


Karaite Synagogue in AshdodIn Israel, the Karaite Jewish leadership is directed by a group called "Universal Karaite Judaism". Most of the members of its Board of Hakhams are of Egyptian Jewish descent.

There are about 2,000 Karaites living in the United States. Most live near Bnei Yisra'el, the only Karaite synagogue in the United States, located in Daly City, California. In the central USA, one will find Karaites-USA Organization and Beth EdatYah Karaite Congregation [2].

On 1 August 2007, the Karaites reportedly converted their first new members in 500 years. At a ceremony in their Northern California synagogue, ten adults and four minors "swore fealty" to Karaite Judaism after completing a year of study. This conversion comes 15 years after the Karaite Council of Sages reversed its centuries-old ban on accepting converts.[4]

There are groups with legal recognition in Lithuania as well as in Poland[5] There are about 50 Karaites living in Istanbul, Turkey. The only synagogue (Kahal haKadosh be Sukra bene Mikra) is still functional in the Hasköy neighbourhood in the European part of the city. The community also gave its name to another part of the city: Karaköy ("Village of the Karaites" in Turkish), which proves the existence of an important community once.

Answer 8

They reject the Oral Torah.