Talk:List of Karaite Jews

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All serious scholars of Karaism have come to the same conclusion about Anan ben David - he was not a Karaite. This is very clearly shown in the writings of the most prominent Karaite Hakhamim such as Daniel Al-Kumisi and Ya'acov Al-Kirkisani. The foremost of all scholars of karaism in the past century, Leon Nemoy, agreed with this as well.--Josiah 14:51, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Al-Kirkisani wrote a religious polemic, and it is not clear to me exactly what he said about Anan vis a vis Karaism. Anyway, I'm looking for historians. So far you've got Nemoy, what exactly did he say?

Al-Kirkisani wrote some religous polemics, history of the jewish sects up to his time, commentaries on the tanakh, a book about translations, and other things as well. Anyways, Nemoy you want, and Nemoy you shall have. It should be noted that no other scholar has devoted more research to Karaite literature, at least for those of us who speak English. He distinguishes between Ananites and Karaites by the use of the respective names, many of which I will not quote. The following are places he distinguishes between Anan's adherants and the adherants of Karaism -

Karaite Anthology, Introduction page XIX - "To the sec of Ananites there were added in the ninth century other dissident groups, some in Iraq, some in the provinces to the east and west organized by later schismatic teachers: Ismail al-Ukbari, of the town of Ukbara in IRaq, a sharp critic of Anan; Benjamin al-Nahawandi, of the city of Nahawand (Nihavend) in Persia, a mild a reasonable individual; and Malik al-Ramli; a native of al-Ramla in Palestine. Another Iraqi sectarian, Musa (Moses), surnamed al-Zafarani after his native district in the captital city of Bagdad, migrated to Tiflis in Armenia, where he presided over his own group of followers and became known as Abu Imran al-Tiflisi. In Ukbara Ismail's place was taken by Misawayh al-Ukbari, who appears to have been something of a cynic - a rather unusual trait in early Karaism. With Daniel al-Kumisi, a resident of the city of Damagan in the northern Persian province of Kumis and an able scholar, Karaism reached the tenth century."

Karaite Anthology, Page 7 - the following is in reference to accounts of Anan's life - "The next account, in chronological order, that of Al-Kirkisani, a devout Karaite, though not an Ananite, and an outspoken foe of Rabbanism, likewise contains no reference to Anan's noble lineage and his unsuccessful candidacy for the office of exilarch."

Karaite Anthology, Page 8 - "The fact, however, is that while Anan freely used Rabbainte exegitical and juridical methods, he came to entirely diverge conclusions, in contrast to Benjamin Al-Nahawandi, who employed distintcly Karaite methods of legal exegesis but came to many conclusions identical with or closely parallel to Rabbanite legal norms."

Karaite Anthology, Page 10 - "Al-kirisani states also that anan was reported in the 10th century to have written a treatise on the transmigration of souls, a doctrine to which he was said to have subscribed and which was accepted by some tenth-century Ananites." (Compare to earlier quote which mentions that Al-Kirkisani was a Karaite, and not an Ananite)

Karaite Anthology, Page 30 - speaking of Daniel Al-Kumisi "A man o f great learning and independent frame of mind, Daniel did not hesitate to differe sharply with both Anan and Bejamin [...] dubbing Anan a 'champion fool.'"

If other quotations are requested, I will provide them.--Josiah 03:06, 20 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Non-Karaite sources:

The story that the sect was founded by Anan ben David when he was passed over for the position of exilarch in Babylonia, is viewed with a degree of scepticism by modern scholars while they acknowledge that Anan was a prominent Karaite leader. Jacobs, Louis. Oxford Concise Companion to the Jewish Religion. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press (1999); pg. 121.

Karaites or Caraites (both: kâr´ts) (KEY) , Jewish schismatic sect, reputedly founded (8th cent.) in Persia by Anan ben David and originally known as Ananites. Its adherents were called Karaites after the 9th cent. [1] - This article uses Nemoy as a source.

Karaite sources:

...the first universally recognized leader of Karaism was ‘Anan Ben-Dawid. A member of an aristocratic Rabbinite family, he discovered the follies of Rabbanism, and wrote the first systematic non-Rabbinic theological document. While Karaism existed before him, this is why he is often noted as the father of Karaism. [2]

The above source may or may not be reliable. The author is an Ashkenazi Jew that converted from Rabbinical Judaism to Karaite Judaism studying under the late Hakham Mordechai Alfandri. After his death, he began making up claims that he was always a Karaite, that his mother was a Crimean Karaite, and that was his native language, etc. When he refused to cease these stories, he was kicked out of the World Karaite Movement [3] by Hakham Gordon, who is part of the UKJ's Council of Hakhamim in Israel (the UKJ is the ruling body of Karaites in Israel). While he seems to has maintained contact with the community in Ashdod, I cannot accept him as a reliable source.--Josiah 03:22, 20 Oct 2004 (UTC)

The above statement is nothing more than libel. The article reffered to was written by a member of the Karaite Jews of America congregation in Daly City, California, and is based on information taken from “The Karaite Jews of Egypt” by Mourad El-Kodsi (Principal of the Karaite schools in Cairo from 1744 to 1956, member and chairman of many Karaite organisations in Cairo from 1944 to 1959, member and secretary of the Karaite religious council in Egypt for 10 years, and current public relations liason for the Karaite Jews of America). The so-called World Karaite Movement is not the representative of the Karaite community in Israel (that is the UKJ) and has no standing within the community. It was founded by an ex-Rabbanite and most of its members (like the author of the above libel) are not considered Karaites (or even Jews) by the Karaite community. 20:51, 19 March 2006 (UTC)

When Tanya Magram came to live in Kibbutz Hulata with her husband and infant daughter four years ago, she knew just enough Hebrew to ask, "Are there any Karaites in Israel?" As a child in Melitopol, just north of the Crimean peninsula, she had heard her grandmother tell of Anan Ben-David, the eighth-century founder of the Karaite movement who built a synagogue in the holy city of Jerusalem. He and his followers rejected the authority of the Talmud, and called for a return to Jewish law as laid out in the Torah. [4]

In the 8th century, Karaism was initiated by Anan ben David in Mesopotamia...Anan Ben David, the founder of the actual Karaite religion [5]

• The above sources refer to the Crimean Karaites, who as I (and the site you cited earlier [6] have mentioned, learned the myths promoted externally during the times of the czars as facts under after the communist revolution.--Josiah 03:22, 20 Oct 2004 (UTC)
  • I should clarify that I am not saying that Karaism, as a whole, did not respect Anan. While many Karaites Sages did not respect Anan at all (such as Daniel Al-Kumisi), others gave him a high level of respect. He did not, however, "found" Karaism. If I can find a photocopy of it on the web, there is a Muslim manuscript which mentions Karaites in Egypt before Anan's lifetime.--Josiah 01:38, 24 Oct 2004 (UTC)