This three-part series will take place on Thursdays at 10:30am Eastern (5:30pm in Israel) from June 9 to June 23.
Most people who have heard of Karaism know very little about it and what they know is often incorrect. Although the name Karaism is apparently taken from the Hebrew word for Scriptures, Mikra, and Karaites reject much of the Talmud, they are not strict scripturalists. Just as Rabbinic Judaism has changed through the years, so, too has Karaism. For most of their history, Karaites have been a very small minority among Jews, but they wielded great influence on the entire Jewish People. Today there is only a relative handful of Karaites remaining, but at 1200 years or so, they are the longest surviving alternative Judaism.
June 9: The emergence of Karaism, the Karaite Golden Age in the Land of Israel; a history of Karaite spiritual centers; Karaites in the Holocaust; Israeli Karaism.
June 16: Karaite practice and belief; how exactly does Karaism differ from Rabbinic Judaism; what practices are common to the two forms of Judaism; Karaite beliefs and doctrines.
June 23: Karaite intellectual accomplishments; theology; biblical commentaries; linguistics and literature; historiography and polemics; the future of Karaism.
