Followers of karaisma

The Karaites played a crucial role in the development of Masora and the vowel of Hebrew writing ( Nekudot ). The significant participation of Karaites in Aliya , starting from ancient times, served as an example and incentive for Jewish rabbis ^[3] . Karaim Moshe Marzuk ^[4] stood at the head of the Zionist underground in Egypt in the 1950s (see Operation Susanna ).

Karaite communities have existed on the territory of modern Israel since the 9th century . In modern Israel, Karaites are seen as a religious movement within a single Jewish people. Most karaites came to Israel from Egypt, as well as Iraq and Turkey. In the 90s of the XX century, several hundred Karaites and people of mixed origin from the CIS countries arrived in Israel. Among them - Avraam Kefeli (Alexey Golovachev) - Gazzan of the Ashdod Karaite community, secretary of the Spiritual Board of the Karaites of Israel.

The Karaite community was not officially recognized by the state until the decision of the Supreme Court of Israel , adopted in 1995, which equalized the Karaite religious court in rights with the religious courts of other communities. The largest communities are located in Ramla , Ashdod , Be'er Sheva , Ofakim , Arad , Bat Yam , Jerusalem and the moshavim Matzliakh, Beit Ezra and Ranen ^[5] .

The Karaites are subject to the so-called “ Law of Return ”, which secures the right of all Jews of the world and their descendants, as well as members of their families, to repatriate to the state of Israel and grant Israeli citizenship. In Israel, Karaites are considered to be part of the Jewish people (since Jews professing Judaism are recognized as Jews, regardless of the rabbinical or Karaite persuasion and regardless of the language of communication), and Orthodox Jews (" rabbinists ") speak of Karaites as erring Jews. Therefore, according to this law, people of Karaite origin (including grandchildren of Karaites) have the right to repatriate and obtain Israeli citizenship on an equal basis with Jewish rabbis.

Marriages made according to the traditions accepted by the Karaites, from the point of view of the rabbinic Halacha, are considered legal, however, divorces committed according to these traditions are not recognized by the rabbis . Therefore, in the past, some halachic authorities, beginning with Maimonides , forbade marriages between Karaites and rabbis: since a child born not from a husband to a married (not divorced) woman is a mamzer (i.e. illegitimate). However, in the sixteenth century, the greatest authority of his time, Rabbi Radvaz, expressed the view that the weddings of the Karaites from the point of view of Halacha are invalid, which means that there are no illegitimate ones among them. Despite these contradictions, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel accepted the point of view of the famous modern halachic authority Ovadia Yosef ^[6] , who allowed the rabbis to marry Karaites who agreed with the instructions of Halakha. Karaites and rabbis, like other citizens of Israel, can marry abroad or in embassies of other countries in Israel, these marriages have full civil equality with religious marriages.

Karaites carry compulsory military service on an equal basis with Jewish rabbis.

Until the middle of the 20th century, there was a Karaite community in Egypt. Karaite synagogues operated in Alexandria and Cairo. The main haham in the Karaite community of Cairo was Abraham Cohen, and in 1934-1956. Tovia Simovich Levi-Babovich , invited by the Egyptian Karaites to this post after the closure of the kenass in the USSR. The creation of the state of Israel led to mass emigration of Karaites from Egypt ^[7] . After the death of the last haham, the Karaite community of Egypt ceased to exist.

Istanbul was one of the main centers of karaismism in the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, there were 7 Karaite synagogues in Istanbul. Famous Gahams in the Karaite community of Turkey:

• Samuel Begi, 1642
• Simcha bin Solomon, 1772
• Isaac Cohen, 1839

As a result of the processes of migration and depopulation, the Karaite community of Istanbul decreased from 3,000 members ^[8] in the 19th century to less than 100 people at the beginning of the 21st century. In Istanbul, there is an old Karaite synagogue ^[9] , there is a cemetery and a charity. Community members are mostly elderly people.

In the United States, there are supposedly several thousand Karaites; The Karaite community is represented mainly by people from the Middle East. In Delhi City, near San Francisco , there is a Karaite synagogue ^[10] .

For a significant part of its history, the Karaites of Eastern Europe, like their co-religionists in other countries, did not separate themselves from the Jewish cultural sphere ^[11] .

In the Russian Empire , most discriminatory laws did not apply to Karaites, which led to increased antagonism between Karaites and Jewish rabbis. In 1837, Tauride and Odessa Karaite spiritual rule was created ^[12] . In 1936, the Polish Sejm approved the charter on the “Karaite religious association”. According to the charter, Karaite priests were considered civil servants and received a monthly salary ^[13] .

In 1941, when the Nazis clarified the issue of whether Karaites were Jews , a number of Orthodox and Catholic hierarchs expressed the view that Karaism is a separate religion ^{[14] [15] [16] [17]} .

Currently, followers of karaism in Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, and Russia consider karaism to be a separate religion , which is reflected in the official recognition of this religion as independent by the laws of Lithuania and Ukraine . A similar position is held by the President of the Ukrainian Association of Religious Studies A.N. Kolodny ^[18] , as well as the assistant to the chief rabbi of Kiev and Ukraine, lawyer Gennady Beloritsky ^[19] . Moreover, the Orthodox Encyclopedia , published by the Church and Scientific Center of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Encyclopedia of the History of Ukraine , describe Karaism as a Jewish sect ^{[20] [21]} .

Initially, the service was held in Hebrew ^[22] , from the 30s of the XX century ^[23] - in Karaite ^[24] and Russian ^{[25] [26]} .

The main religious organization of the Karaites of Ukraine in 2000-2015 was the Spiritual Administration of Religious Organizations of the Karaites of Ukraine, which included the communities of Yevpatoriya, Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Simferopol, Kharkov and Feodosia ^[27] . The first chairman of the Spiritual Administration was David El , and in 2011-2015 - Victor Tiriyaki . In October 2011, the Spiritual Administration initiated the publication of the quarterly newsletter “News of the Spiritual Administration of Religious Organizations of Karaites of Ukraine”, issued in Yevpatoriya as the successor to the “ News of the Tauride and Odessa Karaite Spiritual Government ” ^{[27] [28]} . The only existing kenass in Ukraine is located in Kharkov under the supervision of the Kharkov Karaite religious community under the leadership of Alexander Dzyuba ^[29] . Also, kenasses were preserved in Berdyansk , Kiev and Nikolaev , which are not used for their intended purpose. Oleksandr Arabadzhi, the head of the Kiev Karaite religious community, Honored Worker of Culture of Ukraine, member of the Council on Ethnic-National Policy under the President of Ukraine, ^{[30] [31] [32] [33]} is in favor of returning the kenate community to the Kiev kenassa.

As of January 1, 2019, four Karaite religious organizations (communities) were registered in Ukraine ^[34] .

In 1996, the All-Russian Religious Association “The Spiritual Administration of Karaism in Russia” (chairman of the Spiritual Council - Ilya Fuki) was registered in Russia, but it does not work in connection with the death of the chairman ^{[35] [36] [37] [38]} . In 2008, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation included this association in the list of organizations in respect of which the department’s management plans to initiate liquidation in court ^[39] .

In 2002-2007, in Rostov-on-Don , the “Rostov-on-Don religious association“ Dzhan ”(“ Soul “) professed karaism” functioned (chairman (senior Gazzan) - Igor Bobovich) ^{[40] [41]} .

In addition to ethnic Karaites, ethnic Russians ( subbotniks ) professing Karaism live in the south of Russia and in Rostov-on-Don. Since the Karaites themselves did not accept proselytes , the contacts of Subbotniks with the Crimean and Lithuanian Karaites were episodic ^[42] .

In connection with the accession of Crimea to the Russian Federation, Crimean Karaite religious organizations were registered and re-registered, including the Centralized Religious Organization “Spiritual Administration of Karaites of the Republic of Crimea” (the former Spiritual Administration of Religious Organizations of Karaites of Ukraine) re-registered in 2016, the chairman of which was elected Evpatoria Gazzan Victor Tiriyaki . The official printed organ of the Spiritual Administration is the “News of the Spiritual Administration of the Karaites of the Republic of Crimea” ^[43] .

At the end of 2017, seven Karaite religious organizations were registered in the Russian Federation: six local and one centralized ^[44] .

The Karaite religious community is included in the law “On Religious Communities and Communities” among nine religious communities traditionally existing in Lithuania, which are part of the historical, spiritual and social heritage. In modern Lithuania there are operating Karaite kenassic churches in Vilnius and Trakai (the kenassa in Panevezys was demolished in Soviet times), Karaite cemeteries function (in Vilnius there is a common Tatar-Karaite cemetery , divided, however, into two parts). A complete Karaite prayer book was published in the Karaite language ^[24] . According to the latest census of Lithuania (2011), there were 241 Karaites. There were 310 adherents of Karaite, of whom at least 120 were non-Karaites ^[45] .

Modern Karaites of Poland perceive themselves as an ethnic community and for the most part have lost their religious identity. There are no existing religious communities, although the Karaite religious union of Poland formally exists, which acts on the basis of the decision of the Sejm of April 21, 1936 ^[46] . The head of the union’s department is Professor Shimon Pilecki. The last kenassa in Poland in Wroclaw closed in 1989 . 41 members of the union live in Warsaw ^[47] . There is a separate Karaite cemetery in Warsaw.

• Sons of Scripture - Karaites of Crimea
• European travelers and Crimean Karaites
• Popular science film “Unknown Karaites”
• Karaite folk encyclopedia. - T. 2. Faith and religion. - Paris, 1996.
• A. Kefeli. The album “Karaite Hajj to the Holy Land”. - Slippery Rock, USA - Simferopol, Ukraine, 2004
• Karaites - an article from the Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia
• Karaites: who are they?