Customer Reviews

An Introduction to Karaite Judaism: History, Theology, Practice, and Culture

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This book fills a long-standing gap in Karaite studies. It is a very useful exposition of Karaite doctrine and practices, written by Karaites themselves. The reader, however, should be aware that the authors are Karaites from the Egyptian community and tradition, and therefore they do not have the background or linguistic ability to provide information on the customs of the Eastern European Karaites - specifically those of the Crimea, Lithuania, and Poland, whose books and journals were written in Karaim (a Turkic language), Russian, Lithuanian, and Polish.

There are also some questionable - or at least debatable - statements made in the book about the history of the Karaites in general, and the connections of the Crimean Karaites (Karaims) with the Khazars in particular.

Although the book is well printed and bound, there are, unfortunately, a great many typographical errors which should have been corrected during proofreading before publication.

Readers interested in further information on the Karaites should look for the English translation of a work by Simon Szyszman, the greatest Karaite scholar of the twentieth century, entitled "Karaism: Its Doctrines and History," which is due to be published this year.

I thought this was a very good introduction to Karaite Judaism for the beginner. It covers most of the topics that someone who knowns nothing about Karaism would want to know. I especially liked the fact that the book focused on what Karaite Judaism is, rather than what it isn't, and how it differs from mainstream Judaism. A lot of books out there on Karaism seem to want to spend a lot of time telling you how Karaism and "Rabbanism" differ. Not this book. It is focused, to the point, and thorough, for an introduction.

If you want to know more about Karaism, what Karaites believe, and have believed, etc., this is a good place to start. The book is systematic. It starts with Karaite history (starting with ancient Jewish history), then proceeds to cover Karaite thought, belief, and practice. It seems a little sparse on some of the details for the holidays (mostly for Yom Teruah - aka Rosh HaShannah, and Yom Kippur), but other than that it is pretty thorough.

This book, as its title shows, is a brief material about Karaite Judaism; its just an introduction. The person that is looking for basic information concerning this Jewish denomination can find in this work his/her perfect guide.

Este libro, como muestra su título, es un material breve sobre el Judaísmo Caraíta, es sólo una introducción. La persona que busca información básica sobre esta denominación judía puede encontrar en esta obra su guía perfecta.