#karaites

Two Karaite men at the ruins of Chufut Kale in the Crimean mountains, ca. 1910s.

There are four Turkic-speaking populations native to Ukraine. 

Three of them are native to Crimea. The Crimean Tatars being traditionally Muslims. Krymchaks were traditionally Rabbinic Jews. The Karaites on the other hand identified as Karaite Jews, however historical consequences lead the Karaites of Ukraine and Poland to identify themselves as distinct from the Jews of Eastern Europe and West Asia. Under the rule of the Russian Czar this lead them to have the same rights as Christians and Muslims of the area. Later after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union this assertion lead to the Nazis identifying them as non-Jewish as well, thus preventing them from meeting the same fate as Krymchaks who were nearly obliterated as a people. Despite this genetic studies have shown that they have a similar origins with other European and Levantine Jews, and are genetic isolates alongside their Krymchak neighbors in comparison to their Muslim and Christian neighbors. 

The Gagauz are native the Bessarabia. They are unique among Turkic-speaking populations, alongside certain Volga Turkic populations in Russia, in that they converted to Eastern Orthodoxy in the Middle Ages.

The new center will make it easier for young Jews from Karaite families to make the same choice. “For [Reuven] and others like him — there are many young kids in our community — that they have a place they can learn about their heritage if they, too, make the active decision to choose Karaite Judaism, this center will be there to support them in that,” Lichaa said.

David, Maryellen, Lichaa and other members of the local Karaite community are looking forward to the completion of the center with great anticipation. They have given their money, time and moral support to the project. And every bit of that is being put to use.

“We have to maximize every square inch of space, every dollar,” Maryellen said.

Indeed, the property is small, and half of it is taken up by a parking lot; the cultural center extension will bring the facility right up to the sidewalk.

Sitting at B’nai Israel, talking with the regulars, there is a sense of vibrancy and excitement. The mood is that of people awaiting the impending arrival of something truly awe-inspiring. And who can blame them? They are embarking on an exciting new venture that will have a lasting impact on the future of their community and its heritage.

Karaite kenesa (synagogue) in Vilnius, Lithuania built in 1921.

Aaron Ben Moses Ben Asher of the tenth-century C.E.

Karaite Judaism (/ˈkɛərə.aɪt/) or Karaism (/ˈkɛərə.ɪzəm/; Hebrew: יהדות קראית, Modern: Yahadut Qara’it from, Tiberian: Qārāʾîm, meaning “Readers”; also spelt Qaraite Judaism or Qaraism) is a Jewish religious movement characterized by the recognition of the written Torah alone as its supreme authority in halakha (Jewish religious law)…