Karaite Impostors and the Ten Tribes
(31 July, 2018, 19 Av, 5778)
Contents:
1. Rejection of the Oral Law in History
2. The Karaites
3. Old British Israel
4. Avraham Firkovitch
5. Daniel CHWOLSON. It may not all have been a forgery!
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1. Rejection of the Oral Law in History
We saw how the Oral Law was part and parcel of the Written Torah as received by Moses.
See:
Levi as Rabbi. Fulfillment of Prophecy by Levites who are ALSO Rabbis!
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/tribes/rabbilevi.html
Nevertheless, throughout the generations there were groups who rejected the Oral Tradition and tired to interpret the Bible on their own cognition without referring to tradition.
We have the Samaritans based on Mout Gerizim near the city of Schechem. These people were originally not Israelites. At first they concocted a mixture of Biblical Belief with Idolatrous Practices. Later in the time of the Hasmoneans and later they were drawn closer to Mainstream Judaism but did not go all the way. They were rejected by the Jews due to the suspected pagan practices of some of them. They then created their own religions using a slightly adapted version of the Pentateuch and no Oral Tradition.  So too, in Second Temple times the Sadducees and Boetheans were recalled. These two rejected the Oral Law. Similar smaller groups are also recalled from time to time.
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2. The Karaites
Karaite Judaism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karaite_Judaism
Fifth Column?
The Sages, Other Groups, and Nehemiah Gordon
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/18/fifth.html
The Karaites first come to prominence in 760 CE. A similar group may be referred to in Egypt from the 600s CE.
The Karaites at one stage were quite prominent among the Jews in the Middle East. They were also to be found in Europe and the Crimea. The Karaites in Eastern Europe spoke a Tartar tongue and intermarried with the Tartar peoples. Today most of the karaites have disappeared though some of their descendants remain and attempts have been made to revive them.Â
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3. Old British Israel
Veteran students of Ten Tribes studies have probably come across old British Israel type publications using Karaite Sources. These show copies of inscriptions in Hebrew on tombs from the Crimea claiming that the deceased was descended from Israelties exiled by the Assyrians or some such message. These inscriptions are evidently forgeries. We too understand that at one stage descendants of the Ten Tribes were to be found among the Scythian Peoples of Southern Russia and from there they migrated westward. We would be quite happy to hear that the said inscriptions were genuine because that would help prove our case. Nevertheless if they not real inscriptions we do not want to have anything to do with them.
We need to be very careful in these matters.
Exodus (KJV) 23:
7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
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4. Avraham Firkovitch
The author of the forgeries mentioned above appears to have been a Karaite dignitary and scholar named Avraham Firkovitch (1786-1874).
See:
Abraham Firkovich
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Firkovich
Extract:
Firkovich has come to be regarded as a forger, acting in support of Karaite causes.[9] He wished to eliminate any connection between Rabbinic Judaism and the Karaites. By declaring that the Karaites were descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes.[10] Firkovich petitioned the Russian government to exempt the Karaites from anti-Jewish laws. On the grounds that Karaites had immigrated to Europe before the crucifixion of Jesus and thus could not be held responsible for his death. Which he succeeded in doing.[11]
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5. Daniel CHWOLSON. It may not all have been a forgery!
It is worth mentioning that there was one of the Jewish scholars in the time of Firkovitch, Daniel CHWOLSON, (1819-1911), who opined that Firkovitch may not have forged all the evidence he produced and that a portion of it may have been genuine!