Karaite Judaism Stands on a Firm Foundation

The Karaites are the oldest form of Judaism, that given to Moshe from YHWH on Mt Sinai. We hold the Tanakh (Torah, Nevi'im & Ketuvi'im) to be the inspired words from YHWH, given to guide and direct His people. A Karaite will seek the 'plain meaning' based upon the original Hebrew of the directives found in TN'K

We have commandments telling us what we must do:

For instance:

Devariym (Deu) 6:5

And you shall love YHWH your Elohiym with all your heart and with all your very being and with all your strength.

Shemot (Exod) 20:12

12           Honor your father and your mother: that your days may be long upon the land which YHWH your Elohiym gives you.

Shemot (Exod) 20:7-8

7             You shall use the name of YHWH your Elohiym in an honorable way, not in a vain and empty manner; for YHWH will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.

8             Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

We also have commands telling us what we must not do.

For instance:

Shemot (Exod) 20:2-5

2             I am YHWH your Elohiym, who has brought you out of the land of Mitzrayim ( Egypt ), out of the house of bondage.

3             You shall have no other gods before Me.

4             You shall not make for yourself any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in the heavens above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5             You shall not bow yourself down to them, nor serve them: for I YHWH your Elohiym am a jealous Elohiym, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me;

Shemot (Exod) 20:13-16

13           You shall not do murder.

14           You shall not commit adultery.

15           You shall not steal.

16           You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Hekesh (extrapolation): There are commandments explicitly written in HaTorah but there are some which are simply implied. Using hekesh (extrapolation) existence of the latter is exhibited through extrapolation due to the existence of the former.

For instance:    

Devariym (Deut) 22:10-11

10           You shall not plow with an ox and an ass together.

Inference using extrapolation:

Put under the same yoke only those who are alike. The ox is strong and clean and the ass is weaker and unclean. This may be seen to apply to humans in working together to build a Torah obedient family.

11           You shall not wear a garment of mixed fibers, such as wool and linen together.

Inference using extrapolation:

Wear clothing made of ‘pure, single’ fibers woven together. Let your worship be pure and to YHWH alone. Do not contaminate that which is pure with that which is unclean.

The verses in Vayikra (Lev) 20 referring to uncovering the nakedness of certain relatives are a very good example:

Vayikra (Lev) 20:19-21

19           'You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister or of your father's sister, for such a one has made naked his blood relative; they shall bear their guilt.

20           'If {there is} a man who lies with his uncle's wife he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall bear their sin. They shall die childless.

21           'If {there is} a man who takes his brother's wife, it is abhorrent; he has uncovered his brother's nakedness. They shall be childless.

Extrapolation: Just as a man must not ‘uncover the nakedness’ of his aunt, so should woman not uncover the nakedness of her uncle. Etc ad infinitum

Consider:

Vayikra (Lev) 20:22-23

22           'You are therefore to keep all My statutes and all My ordinances and do them, so that the land to which I am bringing you to live will not spew you out.

Extrapolation: Obey My statutes and ordinances and you may dwell continuously in the land.

23           'Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I shall drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them.

Extrapolation: If you follow the customs of the nations, I will hate you as I have hated them.

Shemot (Exod) 16:23-27

23           then he (Moshe) said to them, "This is what YHWH meant: tomorrow is a Sabbath observance, a qodesh, set apart (holy) Sabbath to YHWH. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning."

24           So they put it aside until morning, as Moshe had ordered and it did not become foul, nor was there any worm in it.

25           And Moshe said, "Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to YHWH; today you will not find it in the field.

26           "Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, HaShabbat, there will be none."

27           And it came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.

Extrapolation: Do your gathering in, during the week (go grocery shopping, cook in preparation of Shabbat etc.) for we are also ordered that Shabbat is to be a day of rest.

Karaites accept as authorative the entire TaNaKH (TN’K) and do not hold the ‘Oral Law’ to be binding on the Nation of YHWH.

Devariym (Deuteronomy) 31:24 “And it came to pass when Moshe had ended writing the words of this Torah in a book, until they were finished...”.

YHWH did not give Moshe two sets of laws to deliver to the Israelites. This oral law, Mishnah, Talmud, or any other additions were composed by men. When contradictions are found in this ‘oral law’ to the written Torah, it is abundantly clear that one is from YHWH and the other from man.

The following reinforces the fact that YHWH gave His people one written law:

Shemot (Exodus) 24:4  And Moshe wrote all the words of YHWH…

Shemot (Exodus) 24:12. “And I will give you the tables of stone, a law and commandment which I have written; that you may teach them”

Shemot (Exodus) 34:27. Then YHWH said to Moshe, "Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel ."

Devariym (Deuteronomy) 31:9 “And Moshe wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, sons of Levi...”

Devariym (Deu.) 31:11 “When all Israel comes to appear before YHWH your Elohiym in the place where He shall choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.”

Yehoshua (Joshua) 8:34-8:35  “After that, he read all the words of the Law, the Blessing and the Curse, just as is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moshe had commanded which Yehoshua (Joshua) failed to read in the presence of the entire assembly of Israel , including the women and children and the strangers who accompanied them.”

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