You are looking at 1-20 of 72 entries
Aaron ben Elijah
(?1328–69).Karaite Jewish philosopher and exegete. His greatest work was the trilogy Ez Hayyim (Tree of Life), Gan Eden (Garden of Eden), and Keter Torah (Crown of the Law).
Aaron ben Moses Ben Asher
Early 10th cent. ce).Jewish biblical scholar. A contemporary of Saadiah Gaon, he was well known as a masorete (see MASORAH). Although a Karaite, his vocalization of the scriptures carried ...
Abraham ibn da'ud
(early 12th c. – c.1180)Jewish philosopher, born at Cordova, Abraham Ibn Da'ud lived mainly at Toledo, where he may have suffered martyrdom. His main work, Emuna rama (Sublime faith) ...
Abraham IbnEzra
(c.1089–1164).Jewish philosopher, poet, and biblical commentator. He wrote both secular and religious poetry, commentaries on all the books of the Bible (those to the early prophets, Chronicles, ...
Aharon Ben Eliyyahu
(c.1328–1369), Karaite scholar born in Nicomedia and active in Constantinople. He was frequently referred to as Aharon the Younger to distinguish him from Aharon ben Yosef ha-Rofe’, the Elder. Aharon ...
Aharon Ben Yosef Ha-Rofe’
(c.1250–1320), Karaite scholar and exegete, known as the Elder to distinguish him from Aharon ben Eliyyahu, the Younger, who lived about a century later. The sole fact known about Aharon ...
Anan ben David
(8th cent. bce).Jewish Babylonian sage, regarded as the founder of Karaism. According to Karaite legend, when the exilarchate of Babylon was bestowed on Anan's younger brother, Anan consequently ...
anthropomorphism
The representation of Gods, or nature, or non-human animals, as having human form, or as having human thoughts and intentions. Sometimes this is avowedly metaphorical, the problem being to understand ...
articles of faith
(ikkarim, Heb., ‘roots’).Formulations of Jewish belief. These are not as important as are creeds in Christianity, since every person born of a Jewish mother is automatically a Jew irrespective ...
Avelei Tsiyyon
(; Mourners for Zion [based on Is. 61.3]), groups of Jews who, after the destruction of the Second Temple, observed daily mourning customs and ascetic practices and devoted much time ...
Avraham Ben Yo’shiyyahu Yerushalmi
(c. 1685–1734), Karaite scholar and author. He lived in Chufut-Kale, Crimea, although he reports that he wandered elsewhere, and evidently supported himself by teaching children and serving as a ...
Avraham Ibn Daud
(c.1110–1180), Spanish philosopher, historian, physician, and astronomer; known by his initials as Ravad. He was born in Cordova, Spain; fled from the Almohade persecutions to Castile in 1146; and ...
bible Exegesis
The interpretation and exposition of the biblical text, in order to apply it practically or as a form of study in its own right. The earliest exegesis can be found ...
Binyamin Ben Moshe Nahawendi
(9th cent.), Karaite scholar. He lived sixty or seventy years after ʿAnan ben David and is considered one of the founders of the Karaite sect; indeed, the earliest use of ...
Birkat Ha-ḥodesh
(; Blessing of the New Moon), public announcement of the day(s) of the forthcoming Ro’shḤodesh (first of the month) made in the synagogue on the preceding Sabbath, after the reading ...
Cairo Geniza
A collection of medieval Jewish MSS found in a storage room of the Ben Ezra synagogue in Old Cairo (al-*Fustat). Jewish tradition prohibits destroying or throwing away sacred documents out ...
controversies
There have been numerous controversies in the history of Judaism. In the Middle Ages for example, the Jewish world, after the death of Maimonides in the early thirteenth century, was divided over the ...
Daniyyeʾl Ben Moshe Al- Qumisi
(c.840–900), Karaite scholar. Born in the Persian province of Qumis, by 875 he was living in Jerusalem, where he became a leader of the Avelei Tsiyyon. Qumisi was the first ...
David Alfasi
(10th cent.), Karaite lexicographer and commentator. He was born in Fez, Morocco, and lived for a number of years in Jerusalem, where he wrote his Kitab Jamiʿ al-Alfaz, a Judeo- ...
Duran Family
A family of rabbis and scholars.Shimʿon ben Tsemah. Duran (1361–1444), rabbinic authority and religious philosopher known by the acronym Rashbats. He studied in his native Majorca and in Aragon. ...
