A Popular Dictionary of Judaism
An heretical sect. The Karaites were founded by *Anan b. David in the 8th Century CE who taught that only the *Written Law was authoritative and the *Oral Law could be disregarded. The sect was consolidated in the 9th and 10th Century and was subject to much criticism from such *Rabbanite scholars as *Saadiah Gaon.
The Karaites themselves believed that their movement went back to the division of the *Northern and *Southern Kingdoms in the 10th Century BCE and that they were following the traditions of the *Sadducees. The sect spread from Babylonian throughout the Ottoman empire as far as the Crimea. Some rabbanite scholars, such as *Maimonides respected the Karaites. The attitude of the civil authorities also varied—they were not, for example, recognised as *Jews by the German government in the 1930s and ‘40s, but they are welcomed in the State of *Israel although they are not allowed by either *halakhah or their own laws to intermarry with the Jewish population. (See also *RABBANITES).
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