The Following is a response to the article by Kazimir Hubert who is a memember of the religious group:Crimean Karaites YOU CAN SKIP THIS SECTION AND MOVE TO NUMBER 2 BELOW, but it will help for reference to avoid confusion below. This term is one which is forced upon us by Wikipedia which has blocked any attempt to write an article about us under our true name which would translate into English as Caraimean Karays. The ethnicity is Karay while the religious identity is Caraimean. People who follow the religion without the ethnicity are called Caraims while people who belong to the Ethnic group without following the religion are called Karays. The 19th century English spellings Caraims and Caraimean are preferred by us because they evoke Crimea without being the same in meaning to Crimeans and Crimean. Although Crimea was named after us, not every Caraim is from Crimea, hence the distinction. In the same way that the terms Angles, England and English express a relationship between the Danish tribe, the land named after that tribe, and the modern population of the land, so too the relationships between the Karayit tribe of Caraims, Crimea and Crimean can be understood in the same way. The word Caraim is of Turkic origin and means Sentry/Sentinel/Guardian, while Crimea is from the Turkic word for that which is heavily guarded such as a stronghold or fortress. Concerning the word Karaite, it was first introduced to the English language by Johann Reinhold Forster in the 1700s as a transliteration of the Syro-Aramaic term ܟܹܪܝܼܬ (KRYT) referring to the Turks who were restored to the so-called Nestorian Church of the East under Metropolitan Abdisho of Merv (modern day Mary in Turmenistan) around 1000/1007AD (A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 1 Author: Robert Kerr. SECTION VIII. Of the City of Caracarum)(The Karaits of East Asia, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1944 by Douglas Morton Dunlop). In the 1950s, Leon (not Leonard) Nimoy mistranslated the unrelated Hebrew word Qaraim (refering to certain Jews in Egypt following the rule of someone called Daniel Qumusi) into English as Karaite (instead of Qaraite which was in use at that time) and the confusion between the original Karaites of Turkestan, and the Qaraite Jews of Egypt became engraved in stone so to speak. Although it is fashionable these days for Christians to display the Arabic letter N as a sign of solidarity with the Nestorian Church of the East Christians currently being Massacred in Iraq and Syria, it is not well known that the Church of the East split with the Eastern Orthodox not over Nestorianism (that rift was healed by the Synod of Mar Aba I in 544AD) but over Muhammad by rejecting the position of John of Damascus and formulating their own position under the Catholicos (equivalent to Patriarch) Timothy I of Baghdad which recognizes the prophetic nature of Muhammad and his Ahadith Qudsi (Islamic Quran). Thus, we are defined appropriately by Eastern Orthodoxy as Muhammedan (karai.crimea.ua/312-protoierejj-s.starikov.html). Yet despite being the earliest known Spiritual Christian Order (closely related to Molokans and Subbotnik Christianity according to Iliya Kazas),due to stagnantly inappropriate academic convention, Qaraite Hanifism (Seraya Shapshal preferred the term Hanif to Muhammedan) is too often examined -with belittling derision- within the chauvinistic context of Qaraite (often mis-named Karaite) Jewish Studies. This would be like studying Palestinian nationalism only within the context of Jewish Studies as used to be the case. 2. As tensions are ratcheted up between Ukraine and the Kremlin, Jews have been forced to choose sides. In the Crimea, two small minority groups, the Karaites and Krymchaks, have been caught in the political crosshairs. If all other Spiritual Christians and Sufis should be regarded as Jews then OK, although it begs the question, why present other religions through the eyes of one? Yes, we define ourselves as Spiritual Israel, as all Christians always have. It seems very strange for the Huffington post to write from a Judeo-centric position on other religions rather than from neutrality. If on the other hand, Caraims alone are being singled out specifically to deny our own heritage and identity, then that is not very nice. That is chauvinistic imperialism. Moreover, I think there are many Jews who would find the comparison offensive when one reads more about what Caraims believe. 3. Walking along Yaroslaviv Val street, I spot an impressive architectural masterpiece called a Kenasa, a Karaite term for synagogue. Another deception (intentional or otherwise) hiding the truth about our independent identity. The word is Kanesa and it is the Ecclesiastical Aramaic and Arabic word for Chapel. It is not Hebrew. The Hebrew word for Synagogue is Beit Knesset. Again it begs the question, why ignore the difference? 4. I catch up with Cyril Danilchenko of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. The Karaites, he explains, rejected the Talmud and split off from Judaism to form a new religion. I am sure that Cyril is a perfectly nice man in his own right. However, why ask his opinion? This would be exactly like asking a hard-line Zionist for an opinion about Palestinian Nationalism. Shall we ask Hamas for an opinion about Jews? Again you see here the chauvinism (even racism) denying our ethnic minority our own voice. And why focus on our religion? There are less than 100 religious Caraims among the 2000 Karays in the world! OK well since we are on the topic of attacking our almost extinct religious Order, shall we say that Christianity or Islam split off from Judaism in the same way? Or is it just because Caraims are such a tiny minority that there is no need to consider our feelings and grant us the same basic respect that Christians and Muslims receive? Our OWN story (not the ethno-genesis imposed upon us by chauvinistic imperialists) is that we, just like our Molokan and Subbotnik Christian religious relatives described by Iliya Kazas, are (as described extensively by Seraya Shapshal) Ananite-Hanifs -a sabbath-keeping Spiritual Christian (Ilya Kazas) branch of the Nestorian Church (Seraya Shapshal) which had distinguished itself from other Christians in the 8th century by refusing to accept the teachings of John of Damascus (as mentioned above). According to Shapshal Anan was originally a convert to Aramaic Christianity who was appointed by Abu Hanifa himself to pastor his Lectors (readers of the Lectionary), a view which put us at .extreme odds with Sunni Islam and Judaism, placing us somewhere between Christianity and Shia Muslims (at least with the Alevi Sufi Orders). 5. Though the Karaites still adhere to the Torah, and keep a religious calendar which includes Rosh Hashanah, Passover and Shavuot, the Karaites dont define themselves as Jews and worship the pagan god Tengri. Pagan God? Is it not enough to punch us to the ground but now stamp on our faces as well? Even the followers of the old Norse religions frequently point out how offensive it is to be called Pagans. Again, another example of chauvinism and discrimination. Is this the thanks we get for saving the lives of Jews during the 19th and 20th centuries? Sima Babovich adopted the Rabbinical Calendar specifically to accommodate the many Jews who were pretending to be Caraims during the 1800s in order to escape the anti-Semitic laws in place in Russia at that time. New year for us is in March of course and we call it Yul Bashi. Rosh Hashanah (The Feast of Trumpets) is however remembered as the Birthday of Christ Jesus (Yeshuah Ha-Tzadik) which is distinguished from his regal birthday on Dec 25th. So it is a new year but for a different reason. Another reason why Sima adopted the Rabbinical calendar was to try and stop the influence of Abraham Firkovich who was trying to introduce Qumusite Judaism (now called Qaraite Judaism) which is anti-Kabbalah to the Dukhovny Christian Military Order of the Caraims. Caraimean Christianity, very much like the Masonic Christianity, has always had great respect for the Kabbalah. And of course we love the Torah, because the Torah is the body of Christ which was transformed through crucifixion. BUT again, why focus on attacking our nearly extinct religious believers? Why isnt this article focused neutrally on the Ethnic Karays alone who are mostly irreligious these days? 6. In the 19th century, Danilchenko says, the Karaites underwent a form of communal insanity by claiming they had immigrated to the area from Israel long before other Jews and hence never participated in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Under this thinking, the Karaites sought to foster the notion of good Jews vs. bad Rabbinic Jews. Danilchenko also claims the Karaites falsified dates on their tombstones so as to move everything back in the timeline some 1,000 years. Communal insanity? I cant believe that the Huffington Post could publish such nastiness! If it were published about Jews it would be called Anti-Semitism, or if about Muslims it would be called Islamophobia. How shockingly nasty! Is it communal insanity that the Jews believe themselves to be the descendants of people exiled from the Holy land by the Romans 2000 years ago? Is it communal insanity that Muslims regard themselves as descendants of Ishmael? Is it communal insanity that Christians believe a man came back to life and ascended into heaven? As mentioned above, the first historical usage of the term Karaites was by Johann Reinhold Forster in the 1700s who clearly indicated our restoration to the Church of the East under the Metropolitan of Merv (Turkmenistan) around 1000/1007AD when according to Abraham Firkovich we became the Religious Order of Caraims among the Karays. This conversion was possible because many Turks were convinced by the Christian Missionaries that our Customary Tribal laws which we call Tura or Tora are the remnant of the Torah which was brought to central Asia by the lost ten Tribes of Israel settled in the area of modern day Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan by the Assyrians in the 720s BC. The land as named Turan, and we were named Turks, after the Tura. Our legendary first King Afrasiab, described as a son of the Tura, has become a descendant of Ephraim in our traditions. hy are we not allowed to believe our traditions to be true? Why are we accused of Collective Insantiy? why arent Jews accused of the same when their DNA studies show less than a quarter of them have any origins in Palestine? Firkovich made a mistake with Isaac Sangaris tombstone and suddenly we are all accused of Tomb desecration, while in fact it was only modern Israeli research tourists in the 1990s who vandalized our grave-yards recently as part of their bully the Caraims campaign. Why? Is it because we keep Torah and believe in Jesus, but unlike our Subbotnik religious relatives, we refused to become Zionists? 7. Though somewhat odd Why odd? Please if a sentence can not be qualified why insert it? It is just ad-hominem. 8. they should be treated differently from other Jews But we are not Jews! We are spiritual Israel just like all Christians. 9. Karaites were exempted from the Pale of Settlement, a policy which put limits on Jewish mobility. As were other Christians, because we are not Jews! 10. were not technically considered Jews Although it is nice that out of all the Christians and Muslims in the world, Judaism singles out us alone to be counted as Israelites, it is not correct to call us Jews. Levites, maybe, Spiritual Israelites, yes, Spiritual Hebrews, yes. But not Jews. However, is ths Huffington Post a Jewish newspaper? It reads like something from HaEretz. Why take this Jewish point of view concerning us? Why not write about us in our own right from our own perspective? We have nothing against Jews, except that we a Turkic ethnicity of Christo-Islamic religion should be called Jews over and over again. Why? 11. Fast forward to World War II and the Karaites again got lucky: because they were not technically considered Jews, the community was spared from the horrors of the Holocaust. Do Babi Yar and Shapshals list mean nothing? Utterly disgusting. 12. manage to speak Karaim Caraimean please. Do not try to hide the connection between us and our homeland Crimea by changing the name. 13. where does the Karaite community stand in relation to other Jews in Crimea There it is again! Considering he wrote his article on 24th November, it is astounding that he did not inform himself concerning the Kremlins decision on the Karaites in August/Septemebr. Протоиерей С.Стариков » КАРАИМ, КАРАИМЫ, КАРАИ, КРЫМСКИЕ КАРАИМЫ, Crimean Karaites, Karai,... karai.crimea.ua Wednesday 2:08a
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 13:11:00 +0000
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