Qaraimits
Qaraimits (Russian: Караимиты) also called Qaraimizers (Russian: Караимствующие); Bezshapochniki (Russian: Бесшапочники); Russian Qaraims (Russian: Русские Караимы) Russian Karaites (Russian: Русские Караиты); Subbotnik-Qaraimits (Russian: Субботники-Караимиты) and Karaite-Subbotniks/Subbotnik-Karaites are one of the three Molokan-Subbotnik (Russian: Молокане-Субботники) groups -the Sabbatarian "Judaizers" (Russian: Жидовствующие) among Tambov Oblast's Spiritual Christians (Russian: Духовные Христиане) comprised together with Subbotniks and Talmudist Subbotniks (Russian: Субботники-Талмудисты also called Gers Russian: Геры).[1]
Qaraimits are normally described as a modern sect of Judaizers distinguished by their interest in Qaraimizm (Russian: Караимство the ways of the Qara'im) and the Pentateuch rather than Talmudic Judaism. It is important to note that although interested in the methods of the Qara'im they did not actually adopt Karaite Judaism. Unlike Karaite Jews, common Qaraimits are not circumcised and otherwise resemble other Subbotnik Judaizers. [2]
Distribution
Besides Tambov they also lived in Saratov Oblast, Astrakhan Oblast, Volgograd Oblast, Stavropol Krai, Samara Oblast, Khakassia, Irkutsk Oblast along the Molochna River in New Russia, in Krasnodar Krai, Armenia and Azerbaijan and along the Russian Empire's boarders with Persia. While not all statistics for all provinces are readily available, there are more than 2500 in Privolnoye, Azerbaijan alone.[3][4]
History
The history of the Qaraimits is an interesting testimony to how Qaraimizm rather than Western Protestantism influenced the development of low-Church Christianity in Russia. The Judaizers entered Russia from Lithuania in the XV century as a mixture of Judaism and Christianity[5]. This gives Qaraimits a very distinct origin from other Qaraim groups also called Qaraims (Russian: Караимы) and Staroiudeyami (Russian: староиудеями) which could include the Lithuanian Karaites and Crimean Karaites. Under Russian authority these three groups could be treated together with the names Qaraims (Russian: Караимы), Russian Qaraims (Russian: Русские Караимы) and possibly also Russian Karaites (Russian: Русские Караиты) sometimes making it difficult to distinguish exactly which group is intended without careful examination of the context.
Characteristics
For their liturgy, they used the 1882 Russian version of the "Порядок молитв для караимов" (Everyday Prayers for Qaraims) by Avraham Firkovich (Vilna 1870)[6] which was in turn based on the Siddur tefillot ke-minhag ha-Karaim by Isaak ben Solomon Ickowicz. In 1935, Simon Firkovich introduced The Lord's Prayer into the Karaite Siddur for them.[7] Unlike Crimean Karaites the Russian Karaites used the term karaimskii iazyk (Karaim language) to designate Hebrew and not the Turkic Karaim language.[8] which is significant because unlike the Judaized Turkic of the Karaims, the Tatar language among Russian Karaites (presumably of Astrakhan) had not the slightest trace of Hebrew loan words.[9] Ironically it was the Crimean Karaites not the Qaraimized Subbotnik Christians who escaped the Holocaust. At Babi Yar it was reported that they were singing "Let us face death bravely as Christ did" on their way to extermination.[10] This may be because the Qaraimits while not denying their Russian origins, do regard themselves as Israelites albeit only in the Spiritual sense unlike modern Crimean and Lithuanian Karaites, though this was not always the case. The Qaraimits contacts with the Crimean and Lithuanian Karaites, who, to a degree, exemplified for them “a Jewish model to be imitated”, "were occasional and never formally arranged since, in particular, normative Karaism denied the acceptance of proselytes and regarded the very existence of a community of Karaites of non-Jewish origin senseless."[11]
Organization
A "Central Spiritual Board" for the Russian Qaraim Abroad is mentioned in 2010 and again in 2011 [12][13]
References
- ^ "Overview of Russian sects and persuasions" by T.J. Boutkevitch pages 382-384
- ^ S.V. Bulgakov "Handbook of heresies, sects and schisms" under Qaraimits
- ^ Valvl Chernin "The Subbotniks"
- ^ Velvl Chernin, "Subbotnik Jews as a sub-ethnic group"
- ^ S.V. Bulgakov "Handbook of heresies, sects and schisms" under Judaizers
- ^ Alexander Lvov, "Plough and Pentateuch: Russian Judaizers as Textual Community" excerpts available online 1, 2, 3
- ^ Mikhail Kizilov "Karaites in North-Eastern Europe: The Karaite Community of Troki between the Two World Wars"
- ^ Mikhail Kizilov "The Sons of Scripture: The Karaites in Poland and Lithuania in the Twentieth Century" page 91
- ^ Grigoriev V, Jewish sects in Russia . // Журнал Министерства внутренних дел. — ., 1846.P. 15. — p. 11-49 «…Заметим только, что наречие татарского языка , которым говорят Русские Караиты, не заключает в себе ни малейшей примеси еврейских слов… » («…We note only that the Tatar language, spoken by Russian Karaites, does not contain even the slightest impurity of Hebrew words…»)
- ^ Babi_Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel by Anatoly Kuznetsov translated by David Floyd (London: 1. Cape, 1970), p. 95
- ^ Velvl Chernin, "Subbotnik Jews as a sub-ethnic group"
- ^ Hannelore Müller "Religionswissenschaftliche Minoritätenforschung. Zur religionshistorischen Dynamik der Karäer im Osten Europas" page 74
- ^ Barry Dov Walfish "Библиография Караитика: Аннотированная Библиография Караимов И Караимизма" pages xxi and 764
Further reading
- А. Львов (2002). Геры и субботники - «талмудисты и караимы», Материалы Девятой ежегодной международной междисциплинарной конференции по иудаике. [Gers and Subbotniks: "Talmudists and Karaites". In: Papers of the Ninth Annual International Interdisciplinary Conference on Jewish Studies.]. Part 1 pp. 301-312. Moscow.
- А. Львов (2003). Субботники и евреи. Предисловие к публикации очерка Моисея Кузьмина «Из быта субботников» [Subbotniks and Jews. Foreword to the reedition of the essay by Moisei Kuzmin Life of Subbotniks] (in Russian). In: literary magazine Параллели ##2 and 3.
- А. Л. Львов, А. А. Панченко, С. А. Штырков. (February of 2001). Полевые исследования культуры сектантов-субботников: экспедиция «Петербургской иудаики» в Ставропольский край
External links
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