By the same token as Kalam Renaissance preceded European Renaissance by several centuries, the Karaite religious “Reformation” among the Jews preceded Luther’s Reformation in the Christian world by three quarters of a millennium. This quirky analogy gives our subject an extra flavor, but of course it stands well on its own merit.
It is important to emphasize up front that Karaism had nothing to do with a negative reaction to the Jewish fascination with Arabic Kalam, developing into a derivative, but hugely promising philosophical movement known as Jewish Kalam. Although among the most effective opponents of Karaism were Jewish Kalamists, especially the renowned Saadia ben Joseph (882?-942), the Karaite target was not Kalam, but the very heart of Jewish religious identity: Rabbinical Judaism and the Talmud.
The rebellion started even before the Kalam became popular among the Jewish rabbis in the eighth century AD. Its alleged spiritual founder was Anan ben David (715?-811?), for which reason Karaism was initially referred to as Ananism. The name Karaite comes from the Hebrew “Kara,” meaning “to read.” The reason for this name is that Karaism invests all religious authority in the written word of the Torah, as opposed to the “oral tradition,” such as the Talmud, which is denied any authority at all. To me, this revolt against the most endearing symbol of the Jewish faith looks like an overreaction to the authoritarian rule of the Jewish “Popes” of that time (the chief rabbis, “Geonim” of the two Babylonian rabbinical academies), and of their “cardinals,” issuing “infallible” decrees concerning all aspects of Jewish life, faith and religious practice, to be enforced throughout the whole Jewish world.
Thus, the initial thrust of the Karaite attack was not exactly against the rabbis, the teachers, but against the Gaon who would be Pope. But almost immediately and very predictably, the attack targeted all rabbinical authority (the “Church”), along the familiar Lutheran lines of the future.
The Karaite rebellion ended denouncing the Oral Tradition and all Rabbinical Judaism with it, asserting the Torah as the sole legitimate source of the Jewish law, Jewish faith, and practice. In this Karaite repudiation of the teachers, I repeat, there was an unmistakable analogy with the Christian Reformation’s repudiation of the Roman Catholic Dogma, as well as with its categorical rejection of the role of the Church as the exclusive interpreter of the Bible and as the complementary source of Divine Truth to that of the Bible.
Unlike Christian Protestantism, Karaism would never amount to anything but a minor sect on the outer fringes of Judaism. While the Reformed Christians had their whole Bible to depend on, that is, both the Old Testament, and especially the Christian New Testament, virtually self-sufficient in itself, the Karaites were effectively dispossessed, as there was no Torah Judaism without the Temple, and there could be no Judaism without authoritative Rabbinical instruction as to what to do and how to do it.
The Karaite effort, however, was by no means a waste for Rabbinical Judaism, which had been itself in dire straits, to be sure. Kalam may have been a good thing in general terms, but it had its downside, just like its future descendant Reform Judaism would have: the danger of losing its distinctive identity. Such outcome could not cause a calamity in the nineteenth century, when Orthodox Judaism was strong and indestructible, being sustained by a longstanding tradition. But in those early years, even after the Talmud, Judaism was weak, and Kalam could easily have overwhelmed it. The Karaite attack on the Talmud gave Judaism what it needed the most: a rallying cry and a spirit of resistance. Remarkably, it was the great Kalamist Saadia ben Joseph, who led the counteroffensive, developing a distinctive Jewish philosophy in the process, and saving Judaism from both introverted decay and extroverted assimilationist tendencies. Indeed, challenging times give life and strength to extraordinary people, and the greater the challenge, the richer the reward. (Taking this to apply to our modern times, the reverse is also true: the smaller the opposition, the lower the morale of the warrior, and the paltrier his harvest.)
It is important to emphasize up front that Karaism had nothing to do with a negative reaction to the Jewish fascination with Arabic Kalam, developing into a derivative, but hugely promising philosophical movement known as Jewish Kalam. Although among the most effective opponents of Karaism were Jewish Kalamists, especially the renowned Saadia ben Joseph (882?-942), the Karaite target was not Kalam, but the very heart of Jewish religious identity: Rabbinical Judaism and the Talmud.
The rebellion started even before the Kalam became popular among the Jewish rabbis in the eighth century AD. Its alleged spiritual founder was Anan ben David (715?-811?), for which reason Karaism was initially referred to as Ananism. The name Karaite comes from the Hebrew “Kara,” meaning “to read.” The reason for this name is that Karaism invests all religious authority in the written word of the Torah, as opposed to the “oral tradition,” such as the Talmud, which is denied any authority at all. To me, this revolt against the most endearing symbol of the Jewish faith looks like an overreaction to the authoritarian rule of the Jewish “Popes” of that time (the chief rabbis, “Geonim” of the two Babylonian rabbinical academies), and of their “cardinals,” issuing “infallible” decrees concerning all aspects of Jewish life, faith and religious practice, to be enforced throughout the whole Jewish world.
Thus, the initial thrust of the Karaite attack was not exactly against the rabbis, the teachers, but against the Gaon who would be Pope. But almost immediately and very predictably, the attack targeted all rabbinical authority (the “Church”), along the familiar Lutheran lines of the future.
The Karaite rebellion ended denouncing the Oral Tradition and all Rabbinical Judaism with it, asserting the Torah as the sole legitimate source of the Jewish law, Jewish faith, and practice. In this Karaite repudiation of the teachers, I repeat, there was an unmistakable analogy with the Christian Reformation’s repudiation of the Roman Catholic Dogma, as well as with its categorical rejection of the role of the Church as the exclusive interpreter of the Bible and as the complementary source of Divine Truth to that of the Bible.
Unlike Christian Protestantism, Karaism would never amount to anything but a minor sect on the outer fringes of Judaism. While the Reformed Christians had their whole Bible to depend on, that is, both the Old Testament, and especially the Christian New Testament, virtually self-sufficient in itself, the Karaites were effectively dispossessed, as there was no Torah Judaism without the Temple, and there could be no Judaism without authoritative Rabbinical instruction as to what to do and how to do it.
The Karaite effort, however, was by no means a waste for Rabbinical Judaism, which had been itself in dire straits, to be sure. Kalam may have been a good thing in general terms, but it had its downside, just like its future descendant Reform Judaism would have: the danger of losing its distinctive identity. Such outcome could not cause a calamity in the nineteenth century, when Orthodox Judaism was strong and indestructible, being sustained by a longstanding tradition. But in those early years, even after the Talmud, Judaism was weak, and Kalam could easily have overwhelmed it. The Karaite attack on the Talmud gave Judaism what it needed the most: a rallying cry and a spirit of resistance. Remarkably, it was the great Kalamist Saadia ben Joseph, who led the counteroffensive, developing a distinctive Jewish philosophy in the process, and saving Judaism from both introverted decay and extroverted assimilationist tendencies. Indeed, challenging times give life and strength to extraordinary people, and the greater the challenge, the richer the reward. (Taking this to apply to our modern times, the reverse is also true: the smaller the opposition, the lower the morale of the warrior, and the paltrier his harvest.)
…Once again, three cheers for the Talmud! In this connection, see my earlier posted entry How The Talmud Saved The Jews.
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