RISE OF KARAISM AND ITS RESULTS.
Anan ben David, the founder of Karaism--His life, writings,
and influence--Hostility to the Talmud--Anan's innovations
--Karaite reverence of Anan--The Exilarchate becomes
elective--Adoption of Judaism by the Chazars--King Bulan
and Isaac Sinjari--Bulan's Jewish successors--Charlemagne
and the Empire of the Franks--The Jews and Commerce--
Jewish Envoy sent to the Caliph Haroun Alrashid--Spread
of the Jews in Europe--The Caliphs and the Jews--The
study of philosophy--Sahal--The Kalam--Mutazilists and
Anthropomorphists--Judah Judghan--The _Shiur Komah_--The
Akbarites--Moses the Persian.
761-840 C. E.
It is as little possible for an historical event to be evolved, as for
a natural birth to occur without labor. For a new historical phenomenon
to struggle into existence, the comfortable aspect of things must be
destroyed, indolent repose in cherished custom disturbed, and the power
of habit broken. This destructive activity, although at first painful,
is eventually favorable to the growth of healthy institutions, for
thereby all vagueness is dissipated, all pretense destroyed, and dim
reality brought more clearly to light. Opposition, the salt of history,
which prevents corruption, had been wanting in Jewish history for
several centuries, and religious life had been molded in set forms, and
had there become petrified. Pauline and post-apostolic Christianity
in its day supplied just the opposition required. It abrogated the
standard of the Law, did away with knowledge, substituted faith, and
thus produced in the evolution of Judaism a disposition to cling firmly
to the Law, and to develop a system of religious teachings which should
deal with the minutest details. The Talmud resulted from this movement
of opposition; it was the sole prevailing authority in Judaism, and
succeeded in supplanting the Bible in the estimation of the people.
Even the study of the Talmud, which had possessed a refreshing and
enlightening influence in the time of the Amoraim, had degenerated in
the following century and in the first Gaonic period into a mere matter
of memory, entirely devoid of any power of intellectual fructification.
A free current of air was wanting to clear the heavy atmosphere.
Opposition to the Talmud, the password of the two heralds of the
Messiah, Serene and Abu-Isa, had left no lasting impression, partly
because the movement, accompanied by fanatical agitation in favor of
a pretended Messiah, led to no other result than the undeceiving of
its partisans, and partly because it had been set on foot by obscure
persons, possessed of neither importance nor authority. If this
one-sidedness was to be overcome, if the Bible was to be re-instated
in its rights, and religious life to regain its spirituality, it was
necessary that opposition to it, which up till then had been manifested
only in narrow circles, should be imparted to a more extended public
by some moderate reformer invested with official character. Until this
movement proceeded, not from some out-of-the-way corner, but from the
region which at that time formed the center of Jewish life, it was
impossible for it to be taken up by the multitude, or to produce any
regenerative effects. The required agitation was set on foot by a son
of the Prince of the Captivity, of the house of Bostanaï, and produced
lasting effects.
It appears that the Exilarch Solomon died (761-762) without issue,
and that the office ought to have been conferred on his nephew, Anan
ben David. The biography of this man, who exercised so profound an
influence upon Jewish history, and whose adherents exist at the present
day, is quite unknown, and the facts have been entirely distorted in
consequence of the schism which occurred later on. While his disciples
honor him as a pious and holy man, who, "if he had lived at the time
when the Temple was still standing, would have been vouchsafed the
gift of prophecy," his opponents cannot sufficiently disparage him.
But even they admit that Anan was exceedingly well read in the Talmud,
and that he employed its style with great ability. It is also certain
that the son of the Exilarch held that certain decisions of the Talmud
possessed no religious authority, and that his anti-Talmudical tendency
was known, at all events, to the representatives of the two academies,
who directed the election of the Exilarch. The Gaonic office was at
that time held by two brothers, sons of Nachman: that of Sora by
Judah the Blind (759-762), and that of Pumbeditha by Dudaï (761-764).
These two brothers united with their colleges to prevent Anan from
succeeding to the dignity of Exilarch, and to choose in his stead his
younger brother Chananya (or Achunaï). But Anan did not stand entirely
alone; of elevated rank, he naturally had friends. His expectation of
succeeding to a position of authority, whose sway was acknowledged
by all the Jewish communities of the East at least, had doubtless
attracted many ambitious, greedy and parasitical followers. But he also
possessed adherents among those who refused more or less openly to
regard the Judaism of the Talmud as true Judaism, and who welcomed Anan
as a powerful champion. The Ananite party were not sparing in their
efforts to obtain the nomination of their chief by the Caliph Abu Jafar
Almansur, who, they supposed, was favorably disposed towards them; but
their opponents gained the day. They are said to have attempted the
life of Anan, and to have accused him of planning a rebellion against
the Caliph, who thereupon threw him into prison, where, the legend goes
on to relate, a Mahometan was incarcerated. Both of them were to have
been hanged, but Anan's companion in misfortune advised him to explain
to the Caliph that he did not belong to the same sect as his brother
Chananya. Thereupon Almansur is said to have liberated him, because,
according to Anan's adherents, he regarded him with kindness, according
to his adversaries, in consequence of handsome presents of money, and
permitted him to emigrate with his followers to Palestine.
One thing only among all these doubtful statements is certain, namely,
that Anan was obliged to leave his country and settle in Palestine. In
Jerusalem he built his own synagogue, which was still standing at the
time of the first crusade. It is likewise certain that, in consequence
of the mortifying slight cast upon him by the Gaons, Anan became
hostile to the Gaonate, and directed all his animosity against the
Talmud, the principal source of its importance. He displayed, in fact,
a fierce hostility to the Talmud and its supporters. He is reported to
have said that he wished that all the adherents of the Talmud were in
his body, so that by killing himself he might at the same time make
away with them. He considered everything in the Talmud reprehensible,
and was desirous of returning to the Bible in the ordering of religious
life. He reproached the Talmudists with having corrupted Judaism, and
accused them at the same time, not only of adding many things to the
Torah, but also of disregarding many of its commandments, which they
declared to be no longer obligatory. Many things which, according to
the text of the Bible, ought to have been binding for all time, they
set aside. The advice which he impressed on his followers was "to seek
industriously in the Scripture." On account of this return to the
letter of the Bible (Mikra), the system of religion which Anan founded
received the name of the Religion of the Text, or Karaism.
Anan expounded his views concerning religious commandments and
prohibitions in three works, one of which was a commentary on the
Pentateuch, certainly the very first of all productions of this
class. Anan's works have not survived the lapse of time; the original
character of Karaism is thus enveloped in complete obscurity. This
only is clear, that in his hostility to the Talmud the founder of
the Karaite sect increased rather than lessened the religious duties
of life, enforced many observances which time and custom had long
abolished, and in his blind eagerness to change the Talmudical
exposition of the Law, often fell into ridiculous exaggerations. He
made use of the Talmudical, or more properly the Mishnaic rules of
interpretation, and with their help considered himself entitled,
equally with the old teachers (of the Mishna), to deduce new laws
of religion. The most important alterations were those made in the
dates of the festivals, the Sabbath, in the laws of marriage, and the
dietary regulations. Anan abolished the fixed calendar, which had been
established in the middle of the fourth century; but finding no grounds
in the Bible for this innovation, he was obliged to refer back to the
time of the Second Temple and the Tanaites. As in former times, the
beginning of every month was to be fixed by observation of the new
moon. The leap years were not to follow in a regular series, according
to the nineteen-years cycle, but were to be determined by repeated
examination of the condition of the crops, especially at the time of
the ripening of the barley. This was not so much an absolute innovation
as a renewal of a method of regulating the festivals, the untenableness
of which in the state of dispersion of the Jewish nation is evident.
This variability of the calendar offered but little difficulty to Anan
and his followers in Palestine, but it shows little foresight for the
future. As had been formerly done by the Sadducees, Anan fixed the
Feast of Pentecost fifty days after the Sabbath following the Passover.
In the strict observance of the Sabbath, Anan far outstripped the
Talmud. He pronounced it unlawful to administer any medicines on the
Sabbath, even in the case of dangerous illness, or to perform the
operation of circumcision, or to leave the house in those cities where
the Jews did not live separate from the non-Jewish population; he
did not allow any warm food to be eaten, nor even a light or fire to
be kindled on the eve of the Sabbath by the Jews themselves, or by
others for their use. Anan introduced the custom among the Karaites
of spending the Sabbath-eve in entire darkness. All these alterations
and many others he pretended to deduce from the letter of the Bible.
He made the laws relating to food severe beyond all measure, and he
extended the prohibition of marriage to relatives who, according
to the Talmud, were allowed to intermarry, so that the marriage of
uncle and niece and of step-brothers and sisters, who were absolutely
unrelated to one another, was regarded by him as incest. Compared
with this exaggerated severity, of what importance was the abolition
of the phylacteries (Tephillin), of the festal plants at the Feast
of Tabernacles, and of the festival of Dedication, instituted in
remembrance of the time of the Hasmoneans, and of other trifles? As his
opponents rightly affirmed, he set up a new and much stricter Talmud.
Religious life was thus invested by Anan with a gloomy and unpoetical
character. The forms of prayer, which had been employed during many
centuries, some of which had been in use in the Temple, were forbidden
by the founder of this sect to be used in the synagogue, and they were
banished, together with the prayers of the _poetanim_. Instead of
them, only Biblical selections, made without taste, were to be read
out in the manner of a litany in the Karaite synagogues. As the Jews
of the Islamic empire were possessed of their own jurisdiction, Anan's
innovations dealt also with points of civil law. In opposition to the
text of the Bible, he placed the female heirs on an equal footing with
the males with reference to property inherited from parents, while on
the other hand he denied to the husband the right of succeeding to the
property of his deceased wife.
But although Anan gave great impetus to the study of the Bible, the
system of vowel points having been already introduced, thus enabling
all men to read the Scriptures, nevertheless the age in which he lived
was neither ripe enough nor his mind sufficiently comprehensive to
enable him to produce a healthy, independent exposition of the text.
He himself was obliged, in order to establish his innovations, to
have recourse to forced interpretations, such as would hardly have
been proposed by the Talmudists whom he reviled. In rejecting the
Talmud, he broke the bridge connecting the Biblical past with the
present. The religion of the Karaites is thus no natural growth, but
an entirely artificial and labored creation. Anan had no regard for
the customs and sentiments of the people. As his system of religion
depended on the interpretation of the Scripture, Karaism naturally was
unsettled in character. A new explanation of the text might threaten
the very foundations of religious life, for what had been lawful might
become unlawful, and _vice versâ_. Anan was as devoid of the power of
appreciating poetry as of understanding history. The sacred prophetic
and poetic literature was of no further use to him than to prove the
existence of some law or some religious command. He closed the gates of
the sanctuary on the newly-awakened poetical impulse.
It is singular that Anan and his followers justified their opposition
to the Talmud by the example of the founder of Christianity. According
to their idea, Jesus was a God-fearing, holy man, who had not desired
to be recognized as a prophet, nor to set up a new religion in
opposition to Judaism, but simply to confirm the precepts of the Torah
and to abrogate laws imposed by human authority. Besides acknowledging
the founder of Christianity, Anan also recognized Mahomet as the
prophet of the Arabs. But he did not admit that the Torah had been
repealed either by Jesus or by Mahomet, but held it to be binding for
all time.
It is impossible to ascertain the number of Anan's adherents who
followed him into exile. His disciples called themselves, after him,
Ananites and Karaites (Karaim, Bene Mikra), while to their adversaries
they gave the nickname of Rabbanites, which is equivalent to "Partisans
of Authority." At first the irritation existing between the two
parties was extremely violent. It is hardly necessary to say that the
representatives of the colleges placed the chief of the party and
his adherents under a ban of excommunication, and excluded them from
the pale of Judaism. But on their side, the Karaites renounced all
connection with the Rabbanites, entered into no marriage with them,
refused to eat at their table, and even abstained from visiting the
house of a Rabbanite on the Sabbath, because they considered that the
holy day was desecrated there. The Rabbanites pronounced the Karaites
heretics, preached against them from the pulpit, especially against
their custom of spending the Sabbath-eve in darkness, and refused to
allow the followers of Anan to take part in the prayers. The Karaites,
on the other hand, could not sufficiently abuse the two colleges and
their representatives. They applied to them the allegory of the prophet
Zachariah, of the two women who carried Sin in a bushel to Babylon, and
there founded a dwelling-place for her. "The two women are the Geonim
in Sora and Anbar (Pumbeditha)." This satire, which probably originated
with Anan, became current among the Karaites, and they never called
the two colleges otherwise than "the two women."
Thus, for the third time, the Jewish race was divided into two
hostile camps. Like Israel and Judah, during the first period,
and the Pharisees and Sadducees in the time of the Second Temple,
the Rabbanites and Karaites were now in opposition to each other.
Jerusalem, the holy mother, who had witnessed so many wars between her
sons, again became the scene of a fratricidal struggle. The Karaite
community, which had withdrawn from the general union, acknowledged
Anan as the legitimate Prince of the Captivity, and conferred this
honorable title on him and his descendants. Both parties exerted
themselves as much as possible to widen the breach.
After Anan's death, his followers, out of reverence, introduced
memorial prayers for him into the Sabbath service. They prayed for
him thus: "May God be merciful to the Prince Anan, the man of God,
who opened the way to the Torah, and opened the eyes of the Karaites;
who redeemed many from sin, and showed us the way to righteousness.
May God grant him a good place among the seven classes who enter into
Paradise." This service, in memory of Anan, is still in use with the
Karaites of the present day.
It is impossible, however, for impartial judgment to endorse this
encomium, for it is impossible to discern in Anan any greatness of
mind. He was not a profound thinker, and was entirely devoid of
philosophical knowledge. He had so mean a conception of the soul that,
in painful adherence to the letter of the Bible, he designated the
blood as its seat. But he was also inconsistent in his opposition to
Talmudical Judaism, for he allowed not a few religious laws to continue
in force that could no more be traced to a Biblical origin than the
institutions which he rejected.
After Anan's death the Karaite community conferred the leadership
on his son, Saul. Anan's disciples, who called themselves Ananites,
differed on various points with their master, especially with regard
to the prescribed mode of killing birds. Thus, immediately after
Anan's death, the enduring character which he had desired to impart
to religious life was destroyed, and there arose divisions which
increased with every generation. This schism caused the Karaites to
study the Bible more closely, and to support and strengthen their
position against one another, and against the Rabbanites, from Holy
Writ. It was for this reason that the study of the Bible was carried
on by the Karaites with great ardor. With this study went hand in hand
the knowledge of Hebrew grammar and of the Massora, the determination
of the manner of reading the Holy Scripture. There sprang up many
commentators on the Bible, and altogether a luxuriant literature was
produced, as each party, thinking it had discovered something new in
the Bible, desired to have its authority generally acknowledged.
While the Karaites thus were extremely active, the Rabbanites were
most unfruitful in literary productions. A single work is all that
is known to have appeared in those times. Judah, the blind Gaon of
Sora, who has already been mentioned, and who had done much to oppose
Anan's claim, composed a Talmudical Compendium, under the title "Short
and Established Practice" (Halachoth Ketuoth). In this work Judah
collected and arranged, in an orderly manner, the subjects which were
scattered through the Talmud, and indicated briefly, omitting all
discussions, what still held good in practice. To judge from a few
fragments, Judah's Halachoth were written in Hebrew, by which means
he rendered the Talmud popular and intelligible. For this reason the
work penetrated to the most distant Jewish communities, and became the
model for later compositions of a similar description.
The Karaite disturbances also contributed to lessen the authority
of the Exilarch. Until the time of Anan the academies and their
colleges had been subordinate to the Prince of the Captivity, and
to the principals of the schools chosen or confirmed by him; at the
same time, however, they had no direct influence over the appointment
to this office when it became vacant. But having once succeeded in
dispossessing Anan of the Exilarchate, the Gaons determined that this
power should not be wrested from their hands, and accordingly from
this time exercised it on the ground that they could not allow princes
of Karaite opinions to be at the head of the Jewish commonwealth. The
Exilarchate, which had been hereditary since the time of Bostanaï,
became elective after Anan, and the presidents of the academies
directed the election. On the death of Chananya (Achunaï), and hardly
ten years after Anan's defection from Rabbanism, a struggle for the
Exilarchate broke out afresh between two pretenders, Zaccaï ben Achunaï
and Natronaï ben Chabibaï. The latter was a member of the college under
Judah. The two heads of the schools at this period, Malka bar Acha, of
Pumbeditha (771-773), and Chaninaï Kahana ben Huna, of Sora (765-775),
united to bring about the overthrow of Natronaï, and succeeded in
procuring, through the Caliph's attendants, his banishment from
Babylonia. He emigrated to Maghreb (Kairuan), in which city there had
existed ever since its foundation a numerous Jewish population. Zaccaï
was confirmed in the office of Exilarch. The Exilarchate continued to
become more and more dependent on the Gaonate, which often deposed
obnoxious princes, and not infrequently banished them. But as the
Exilarchs, when they arrived at power, attempted to free themselves
from this state of dependence, there occurred collisions which exerted
an evil influence on the Babylonian commonwealth.
At about the same time as Karaism sprang into existence, an event
occurred which only slightly affected the development of Jewish
history, but which roused the spirits of the scattered race and
restored their courage. The heathen king of a barbarian people, living
in the north, together with all his court, adopted the Jewish religion.
The Chazars, or Khozars, a nation of Finnish origin, related to the
Bulgars, Avars, Ugurs or Hungarians, had settled, after the dissolution
of the empire of the Huns, on the frontier between Europe and Asia.
They had founded a kingdom on the Volga (which they called the Itil
or Atel) at the place near which it runs into the Caspian Sea, in the
neighborhood of Astrakhan, now the home of the Kalmucks. Their kings,
who bore the title of Chakan or Chagan, had led these warlike sons of
the steppe from victory to victory. The Chazars inspired the Persians
with so great a dread that Chosroes, one of their kings, found no
other way of protecting his dominions against their violent invasions
than by building a strong wall which blocked up the passes between the
Caucasus and the sea. But this "gate of gates" (Bab al abwab, near
Derbend) did not long serve as a barrier against the warlike courage
of the Chazars. After the fall of the Persian empire, they crossed the
Caucasus, invaded Armenia, and conquered the Crimean peninsula, which
bore the name Chazaria for some time. The Byzantine emperors trembled
at the name of the Chazars, flattered them, and paid them a tribute,
in order to restrain their lust after the booty of Constantinople. The
Bulgarians, and other tribes, were the vassals of the Chazars, and the
people of Kiev (Russians) on the Dnieper were obliged to pay them as an
annual tax a sword and a fine skin for every household. With the Arabs,
whose near neighbors they gradually became, they carried on terrible
wars.
Like their neighbors, the Bulgarians and the Russians, the Chazars
professed a coarse religion, which was combined with sensuality and
lewdness. The Chazars became acquainted with Islam and Christianity
through the Arabs and Greeks, who came to the capital, Balanyiar,
on matters of business, in order to exchange the products of their
countries for fine furs. There were also Jews in the land of the
Chazars; they were some of the fugitives that had escaped (723) from
the mania for conversion which possessed the Byzantine Emperor Leo. It
was through these Greek Jews that the Chazars became acquainted with
Judaism. As interpreters or merchants, physicians or counselors, the
Jews were known and beloved by the Chazar court, and they inspired the
warlike king Bulan with a love of Judaism.
In subsequent times, however, the Chazars had but a vague knowledge
of the motive which induced their forefathers to embrace Judaism.
One of their later Chagans gives the following account of their
conversion: The king Bulan conceived a horror of the foul idolatry
of his ancestors, and prohibited its exercise within his dominions,
without, however, adopting any other form of religion. He was
encouraged by a dream in his endeavors to discover the proper manner
of worshiping God. Having gained a great victory over the Arabs, and
conquered the Armenian fortress of Ardebil, Bulan determined to adopt
the Jewish religion openly. The Caliph and the Byzantine emperor
desired, however, to induce the king of the Chazars to embrace their
respective religions, and with this intention sent to Bulan deputations
with letters and valuable presents, and men well versed in religious
matters. The king thereupon arranged for a religious discussion to take
place before him between a Byzantine ecclesiastic, a Mahometan sage,
and a learned Jew. The champions of the three religions disputed the
whole question, however, without being able to convince one another
or the king of the superior excellence of their respective religions
as compared with the other two. But as Bulan had remarked that the
representatives of the religion of Christ and of Islam both referred to
Judaism as the foundation and point of departure of their faiths, he
declared to the ambassadors of the Caliph and the Emperor that, as he
had heard from the opponents of Judaism themselves an impartial avowal
of the excellence of that religion, he would carry out his intention
of professing Judaism as his religion. He thereupon immediately
offered himself for circumcision. The Jewish sage who was the means of
obtaining Bulan's conversion is supposed to have been Isaac Sanjari or
Sinjari.
It is possible that the circumstances under which the Chazars embraced
Judaism have been embellished by legend, but the fact itself is too
definitely proved on all sides to allow any doubt as to its reality.
Besides Bulan, the nobles of his kingdom, numbering nearly four
thousand, adopted the Jewish religion. Little by little it made its
way among the people, so that most of the inhabitants of the towns
of the Chazar kingdom were Jews; the army, however, was composed of
Mahometan mercenaries. At first the Judaism of the Chazars must have
been rather superficial, and could have had but little influence on
their mind and manners. A successor of Bulan, who bore the Hebrew
name of Obadiah, was the first to make serious efforts to further
the Jewish religion. He invited Jewish sages to settle in his
dominions, rewarded them royally, founded synagogues and schools,
caused instruction to be given to himself and his people in the Bible
and the Talmud, and introduced a divine service modeled on that of
the ancient communities. So great was the influence which Judaism
exercised on the character of this uncivilized race, that while the
Chazars that remained heathens, without a twinge of conscience sold
their children as slaves, those of them that had become Jews abandoned
this barbarous custom. After Obadiah came a long series of Jewish
Chagans, for according to a fundamental law of the state only Jewish
rulers were permitted to ascend the throne. Neither Obadiah nor his
successors showed any intolerance towards the non-Jewish population of
the country; on the contrary, the non-Jews were placed on a footing
of complete equality with the other inhabitants. There was a supreme
court of justice, composed of seven judges, of whom two were Jews for
the Jewish population, two Mahometans and two Christians for those
who were of these religions, and one heathen for the Russians and
Bulgarians. For some time the Jews of other countries had no knowledge
of the conversion of this powerful kingdom to Judaism, and when at
last a vague rumor to this effect reached them, they were of opinion
that Chazaria was peopled by the remnant of the former ten tribes.
The legend runs thus: Far, far beyond the gloomy mountains, beyond
the Cimmerian darkness of the Caucasus, there live true worshipers of
God, holy men, descendants of Abraham, of the tribes of Simeon and
the half-tribe of Manasseh, who are so powerful that five-and-twenty
nations pay them tribute.
At about this time--in the second half of the eighth century--the
Jews of Europe also emerged a little from the darkness which had
covered them for centuries. Favored by the rulers, or at least neither
ill-treated nor persecuted by them, they raised themselves to a
certain degree of culture. Charlemagne, the founder of the empire
of the Franks, to whom Europe owes its regeneration and partial
emancipation from barbarism, also contributed to the spiritual and
social advancement of the Jews in France and Germany. By the creation
of the German-Frankish empire--which extended from the ocean to the
further side of the Elbe, and from the Mediterranean to the North
Sea--Charlemagne transferred the focus of history to Western Europe,
whereas hitherto it had been at Constantinople, on the borderland
between Eastern Europe and Asia. Although Charlemagne was a protector
of the Church, and helped to found the supremacy of the papacy, and
Hadrian, the contemporary Pope, was anything but friendly to the Jews,
and repeatedly exhorted the Spanish bishops to prevent the Christians
from associating with Jews and heathens (Arabs), Charlemagne was too
far-seeing to share the prejudices of the clergy with respect to the
Jews. In opposition to all the precepts of the Church and decisions
of the councils, the first Frankish emperor favored the Jews of his
empire, and turned to account the knowledge of a learned man of this
race, who journeyed to Syria for him, and brought back to France the
products of the East. While other monarchs punished the Jews for
purchasing Church vessels or taking them as pledges from the clergy or
the servants of the Church, Charlemagne adopted the opposite course;
he inflicted heavy punishment on the sacrilegious ecclesiastics, and
absolved the Jews from all penalties.
The Jews were at this period the principal representatives of the
commerce of the world. While the nobles devoted themselves to the
business of war, the commoners to trades, and the peasants and serfs to
agriculture, the Jews, who were not liable to be called upon to perform
military service, and possessed no feudal lands, turned their attention
to the exportation and importation of goods and slaves, so that the
favor extended to them by Charlemagne was, to a certain extent, a
privilege accorded to a commercial company. They experienced only
the restraint put upon all merchants in the corn and wine trade; the
Emperor considered it dishonest to make a profit on the necessaries
of life. This somewhat materialistic value set upon the Jews marks,
however, great progress from the narrow-mindedness of the Merovingian
monarchs, the Gunthrams and the Dagoberts, who saw nothing in the Jews
but murderers of God. But Charlemagne also manifested deep interest in
the spiritual advancement of the Jewish inhabitants of his empire. In
the same way as he had cared for the education of the Germans and the
French by inviting learned men from Italy, so also he earnestly desired
to place a higher culture within the reach of the German and the French
Jews. With this intention he removed a learned family, consisting of
Kalonymos, his son Moses, and his nephew, from Lucca to Mayence (787),
hoping besides to make the Jews independent of the academies of the
Levant.
Charlemagne's embassy to the powerful Caliph Haroun Alrashid, to which
was attached a Jew named Isaac, is familiar to every student of history
(797). Although at first probably Isaac accompanied the two nobles,
Landfried and Sigismund, only in the character of interpreter, he was
nevertheless admitted into Charlemagne's diplomatic secrets. Thus, when
the two principal ambassadors died on the journey, the Caliph's reply
and the valuable presents which he had forwarded, fell into Isaac's
sole charge, and he was received in solemn audience by the Emperor at
Aix. The Emperor is also said to have requested the Caliph, through his
embassy, to send him from Babylonia a learned Jew for his country, and
Haroun is reported to have sent him a man answering his requirements.
This man was a certain Machir, whom Charlemagne placed at the head of
the Jewish congregation of Narbonne. Machir, who, like Kalonymos of
Lucca, became the ancestor of a learned posterity, founded a Talmudical
school at Narbonne.
Owing to their favorable position in the Frankish-German Empire, in
which they held land, the Jews were permitted to undertake voyages
and carry on business, and were harassed neither by the people nor by
the really religious German ecclesiastics; they were also enabled to
abandon themselves to their inclination for travel, and thus spread
through many of the provinces of Germany. In the ninth century, numbers
of them dwelt in the towns of Magdeburg, Merseburg, and Ratisbon.
From these points, they penetrated further and further into the
countries inhabited by the Slavonians on the further side of the Oder
as far as Bohemia and Poland. Meanwhile, in spite of the favor which
Charlemagne extended to them, he, like the best men of the Middle
Ages, found it difficult to treat them on an entirely equal footing
with the Christians. The chasm, which the Fathers of the Church had
placed between Christianity and Judaism, and which had been widened
by individual ecclesiastics and the synods, was far too deep to be
overleapt by an emperor who was devotedly attached to the Church.
Charlemagne himself maintained, on one point, a difference between Jew
and Christian, and perpetuated it in the peculiar form of the oath
which was imposed on the Jews who were witnesses against, or accusers
of, a Christian. They were required, in taking an oath against a
Christian, to surround themselves with thorns, to take the Torah in
their right hand, and to call down upon themselves Naaman's leprosy
and the punishment of Korah's faction in witness of the truth of their
statement. If there was not a Hebrew copy of the Torah at hand, a
Latin Bible was held to be sufficient. It is impossible not to admit,
however, that to allow the Jews to testify against a Christian was in
itself a deviation from the ordinances of the Church.
In the East, at the beginning of the ninth century, the Jews were also
reminded, in a disagreeable manner, that they had to expect scorn
and oppression even from the best rulers. The reigns of the Abassid
Caliphs, Haroun Alrashid and his sons, are regarded as the most
flourishing period of the Caliphate of the East, but it is at this
very time that Jewish complaints of oppression rise loudest. It is
possible that in re-enacting Omar's law against the Christians (807),
Haroun also made it applicable to the Jews; for they were compelled
to wear a distinctive badge of yellow on their dress, in the same way
as the Christians were obliged to wear blue, and they had to use a
rope instead of a girdle. When, after his death (809), his two sons,
Mahomet Alemin and Abdallah Almamun, for whom their father had divided
the Caliphate into two parts, engaged in a destructive civil war,
throughout the whole extent of the great empire, the Jews, especially
those in Palestine, experienced severe persecution. The Christians,
however, were their companions in misfortune. During the four years
(809-813) of this fratricidal struggle, robbery and massacre seem to
have been the order of the day. The sufferings were so terrible, it
seems, that a preacher of those times declared them to be a sign of the
speedy coming of the Messiah. "Israel can only be redeemed by means
of penitence, and true penitence can only be evoked by suffering,
affliction, wandering, and want," declared this orator by way of
consolation of his afflicted congregation. In the civil war raging
between the two Caliphs, he fancied he saw the approaching destruction
of the Ishmaelite rule and the approach of the Messianic empire. "Two
brothers will finally rule over the Ishmaelites (Mahometans); there
will then arise a descendant of David, and in the days of this king
the Lord of Heaven will found a kingdom which shall never perish."
"God will exterminate the sons of Esau (Byzantium), Israel's enemies,
and also the sons of Ishmael, its adversaries." But these, like many
others, were delusive hopes. The civil war, indeed, shook the Caliphate
to its foundations, but did not destroy it. Alemin was killed, and
Almamun became the sole ruler of this extensive empire.
It was during Almamun's reign (813-833) that the Caliphate of the East
flourished most luxuriantly. As he was imbued with tolerance, it was
possible for the sciences and a certain form of philosophy to develop.
Bagdad, Kairuan in northern Africa, and Merv in Khorasan, became the
centers of science, such as Europe did not possess until many centuries
later. The genius of the Greeks celebrated its resurrection in Arabic
garb. Statesmen competed with men of leisure for the palm of erudition.
The Jews did not remain unaffected by this enthusiasm for science.
Investigation and subtle inquiry are indeed part of their innermost
nature. They took earnest interest in these intellectual activities,
and many of their achievements gained the approbation of the Arabs.
The history of Arab civilization has several Jewish names recorded in
its annals. Sahal, surnamed Rabban (the Rabbanite, the authority on
the Talmud), of Taberistan on the Caspian Sea (about the year 800),
was celebrated as a physician and a mathematician. He translated into
Arabic the Almagest of the Greek astronomer Ptolemy, the text-book
of astronomy during the Middle Ages, and was the first to note the
refraction of light. His son Abu-Sahal Ali (835-853) is placed among
those that advanced the study of medicine, and was the teacher of two
Arabic medical authorities, Razi and Anzarbi.
With even more ardor than that with which they had applied themselves
to medicine, mathematics and astronomy, the Mussulmans prosecuted the
study of the science of religion, a sort of philosophy of religion
(Kalâm). It was invested with as much importance as the affairs of
state, and exercised a certain influence on politics. The expounders
of the Koran, in trying to explain away the grossly sensual references
to God, and to reconcile the contradictions contained in that work,
developed ideas which projected far beyond the restricted horizon
of Islam. Many commentators, by reason of their rationalistic
explanations, came into conflict with the champions of the text, and
were branded by them as heretics. The Mutazilists (heretics) laid great
stress upon the unity of God, and desired that no definite attributes
should be ascribed to him; for thereby the essence of God appeared to
them to be divided into parts, and several beings to be included in the
idea of God, whose unity was thus negatived. They further asserted the
freedom of the human will, because the unconditional predetermination
by God, which the Oriental mind believes, and the Koran confirms,
was incompatible with divine justice, which rewards the good and
punishes the bad. They believed, however, that they still stood on
the same ground as the Koran, although, of course, going far beyond
it, and in order to bring their doctrine into harmony with the blunt
sayings of their religious book, they employed the same method as the
Alexandrian-Jewish philosophers of religion had used to reconcile the
Bible with Greek philosophy; they adopted an allegorical interpretation
of the text. This interpretation was employed for the purpose of
bridging over the gulf existing between the rationalistic idea of God
and the irrational idea as taught by the Koran. The rationalistic
Mutazilist theology of the Mahometans, although denounced at first
as heretical, steadily gained ascendancy; the schools of Bagdad and
Bassora rang with its doctrines. The Caliph Almamun exalted it into the
theology of the court, and condemned the old simple views of religion.
The adherents of orthodoxy were horrified by this license of
interpretation, for the text of the Koran, in an underhand way, was
forced into conveying an opposite meaning, and simple faith lost all
support. They, therefore, adhered strictly to the letter and to the
natural meaning of the text. Some of them went still further. They
took, in their literal meaning, all the expressions concerning God,
however gross they might be, which occurred in the Koran, or were used
by tradition, and constructed a most vile theology. Mahomet expressed
a revelation thus: "My Lord came to meet me, gave me his hand in
greeting, looked into my face, laid his hand between my shoulders, so
that I felt his cold finger-tips," and the orthodox school accepted
all this in revolting literalness. This school (Anthropomorphists)
did not hesitate to declare that God was a body possessed of members
and a definite form; that he was seven spans high, measured by his
own span; that he was in a particular spot--upon his throne; that it
was permissible to affirm of him that he moves, mounts his throne and
descends from it, stops and rests. These and still more blasphemous
descriptions of the Supreme Being, in the same grossly materialistic
strain, were given by the orthodox Mahometan teachers of religion,
in order to show their adherence to the letter of the Koran in
contradistinction to the Rationalists.
The Jews of the East lived in so close a connection with the Mussulmans
that they could not fail to be affected by these tendencies. The
same phenomena were repeated, therefore, in Jewish circles, and the
variance between Karaites and Rabbanites assisted in transferring the
Islamic controversies to Judaism. The official supporters of Judaism,
however, the colleges of Sora and Pumbeditha, held aloof from them.
Entirely absorbed in the Talmud, and its exposition, they either took
no notice at first of the violent agitation of mind prevailing, or else
refused to yield to it. But outside of the colleges men were actively
interested in these new methods, and Judaism was pushed through another
process of purification.
The faint ray of philosophy which fell into this world of simple blind
faith, ignorant of its own beliefs, produced a dazzling illumination.
The Karaites for the most part were of Mutazilist (rationalistic)
tendency, while the Rabbanites, on the contrary, having to defend the
strange Agadic statements concerning God, were antagonistic to science.
But as the religious edifice of Karaism was not finished, there arose
new sects within its pale, with peculiar theories and varying religious
practices.
The first person known to have imparted the Mutazilist tendency of
Islamic theology to Judaism was Judah Judghan, the Persian, of the
town of Hamadan (about 800). His adversaries relate of him that he was
originally a camel-herd. He himself pretended to be the herald of the
Messiah, and when he had gained adherents, unfolded to them a peculiar
doctrine, which he asserted had been made known to him in a vision.
In opposition to the ancient traditional views, in accordance with
which the Biblical account of God's deeds and thoughts must be taken
literally, Judah Judghan asserted that we ought not to represent God
with material attributes or anthropomorphically, for he is elevated
above all created things. The expressions which the Torah employs in
this connection are to be taken in a wholly metaphorical sense. Nor may
we take for granted that, by virtue of His omnipotence and omniscience,
God predetermines the acts of man. Much rather ought we to proceed
from God's justice, and assume that man is master of his actions, and
possessed of free will, and that reward and punishment are meted out
to us according to our merit. While Judah of Hamadan was possessed of
liberal views concerning theoretical questions, he recommended the
severest asceticism in practice. His adherents abstained from meat and
wine, fasted and prayed frequently, but were less strict with respect
to the festivals. His followers, who long maintained themselves as a
peculiar sect under the name of Judghanites, believed so firmly in
him that they asserted that he was not dead, but would appear again,
in order to bring a new doctrine with him, as the Shiites believed
of Ali. One of his disciples, named Mushka, was desirous of imposing
the doctrine of his master on the Jews by force. He marched out of
Hamadan with a troop of comrades of similar sentiments, but, together
with nineteen of his followers, was killed, in the neighborhood of
Koom (east of Hamadan, southwest of Teheran), most probably by the
Mussulmans.
Judah Judghan attached more importance to an ascetic mode of living
than to the establishing of the philosophical basis of Judaism,
and was therefore rather the founder of a sect than a religious
philosopher. A contemporary Karaite, Benjamin ben Moses of Nahavend
(about 800-820), spread the Mutazilist philosophy among the Karaites.
Benjamin Nahavendi is regarded by his fellow-Karaites as an authority,
and is honored by them as greatly as Anan, their founder, although
he differed from the latter on many points. Benjamin was entirely
permeated with the conceptions of the Mutazilists. He was scandalized,
not only by the physical and human characteristics of God contained in
the Scripture, but also by the revelation and the creation. He could
not rest satisfied with the idea that the spiritual Being had created
this earthly world, had come into contact with it, had circumscribed
himself in space for the purpose of the revelation on Sinai, and
uttered articulate sounds. In order not to abandon his elevated
idea of God, and at the same time to preserve the revelation of the
Torah, he adopted the following notion, as others had done before
him: God had himself created only the spiritual world and the angels;
the terrestrial universe, on the other hand, had been created by the
angels, so that God ought to be regarded only as the mediate creator
of the world. In the same way the revelation, the giving of the Law
on Sinai, and the inspiration of the prophets were all the work of an
angel only. Certain disciples adopted Benjamin's views, and formed a
peculiar sect, called (it is not known for what reason) the Makariyites
or Maghariyites.
While Benjamin Nahavendi, as is generally acknowledged, deviated
widely from the Jewish system with respect to religious philosophy,
he approached the Rabbanites on the subject of morals; he adopted
many Talmudical ordinances, and left it to the free choice of the
Karaites to reject or adopt them as their standard. In order to enforce
obedience to the laws, Benjamin Nahavendi introduced a species of
excommunication, which differed only slightly from the excommunication
of the Rabbanites. When an accused person refused to obey the summons
served on him, and attempted to evade judgment, he was to be cursed on
each of seven successive days, and then excommunication pronounced on
him. The excommunication consisted in the prohibition of intercourse
with all the members of the community, who also were forbidden to
greet him, or to accept anything from him; he was to be treated in
all respects like one deceased, until he submitted. If he obstinately
disregarded the decree, it was lawful to hand him over to temporal
justice. Although Benjamin Nahavendi inclined to Rabbanism on certain
points, he adhered firmly, nevertheless, to the Karaite principle of
unrestrained research in the Bible. One ought not to tie one's self
down to the authorities, but to follow one's own conviction; the son
may differ from the father, the disciple from the master, as soon as
they have reasons for their different views. "Inquiry is a duty, and
errors occasioned by inquiry do not constitute a sin."
In the same manner as the orthodox Mahometan teachers of religion
worked counter to the unrestrained subtlety of the Mutazilists, and,
falling into the opposite extreme, conceived the divinity as possessed
of a bodily form, so also did the Jewish adherents of the orthodox
doctrine go astray, and, regarding the rationalistic innovation as a
defection from Judaism, they conceived the most absurd ideas concerning
the materiality of God. They even desired to accept in their most
literal sense the Biblical expressions, "God's hand, God's foot,
his sitting down, or walking about." The Agadic exposition of the
Scripture, which occasionally made use of material, tangible figures,
adapted to the comprehension of the people, promoted the acceptance
of this anti-Jewish theory. This theory, the creation of an imbecile,
gained adherents by reason of its mysterious nature. It gives a minute,
corporeal description of the Deity, measures his height from head to
foot by the parasang-scale, speaks in blasphemous detail of God's
right and left eye, of his upper and lower lip, of his beard and of
other members, which it would be sacrilegious even to mention. In
order, however, not to prejudice the sublimity and majesty of God,
this theory enlarges each organ to enormous proportions, and considers
that justice has been done to the case when it adds that the scale by
which the members are measured considerably exceeds the whole world
(Shiur-Komah). To this God, whom it thus dissected and measured, the
theory assigned a special house in heaven with seven halls (Hechaloth).
In the uppermost hall, God is seated upon an elevated throne, the
proportions of which are measured by the same enormous scale. The halls
are populated by this materialistic theory with myriads of angels, to
some of whom are assigned names formed by the arbitrary combination
of Hebrew and foreign words into barbarous sounds. The chief angel,
however, is a certain Metatoron, and the theory adds, after the example
of the Christian and Mahometan authors, that he was Enoch or Henoch,
originally a man, but transported by God into heaven, and converted
into flames of fire. With evident pleasure the theory dwells upon the
description of this abortion of a morbid fancy. It even dared place him
at the side of the Divinity, and call him the "little God."
This theory, which was a compound of misunderstood Agadas, and of
Jewish, Christian, and Mahometan fantastic notions, clothed itself in
mysterious obscurity, and pretended to be a revelation. In order to
answer the inquiry whence it had acquired this wisdom which enabled it
to scoff at Judaism, in other words, at the Bible and the Talmud, it
quotes alleged divine instructions. As there is no nonsense, however
apparent, which cannot find adherents when earnestly and impressively
enunciated, this doctrine of mystery, which was based upon a grossly
material conception of God, found many followers. Its adepts called
themselves "Men of Faith." They boasted of possessing the means
of obtaining a view of the divine household. By virtue of certain
incantations, invocations of the names of God and the angels, and
the recitation of certain prayer-like chants, combined with fasting
and an ascetic mode of living, they pretended to be able to perform
supernatural deeds. For this purpose they made use of amulets and
cameos (Kameoth), and wrote upon them the names of God or the angels
with certain signs. Miracle-working was a trifle to these mystics. They
asserted that every pious man had the power of performing miracles,
if he only employed the proper means. To this end they wrote a number
of works on the theory and practice of the esoteric doctrine; for
the most part they contained downright nonsense, but here and there
they rose to poetry. But this mystical literature only gave hints;
the adepts would surrender the real key to a knowledge of the divine
secrets and to the power of performing miracles only to certain
persons, in whose hand and forehead they pretended to discover lines
that proved them to be worthy of this favor.
This mystical doctrine flourished chiefly in Palestine, where the real
study of the Talmud was languishing; little by little it made its way
into Babylonia. This became apparent on the occasion of the election
of a principal of the Pumbeditha academy (814). The best claim to
this office was that advanced by a certain Mar-Aaron (ben Samuel), by
reason of his erudition and on account of his having acted up till
then as chief judge. Nevertheless, preference was given to the claim
of a rival, the aged Joseph bar Abba, who was far inferior to him in
learning; the reason of this preference being that the latter was an
adept in mysticism, and was believed to be favored with the intimacy
of the prophet Elijah. One day when this same Joseph bar Abba was
presiding at a public meeting, he exclaimed with rapture, "Make room
for the old man who is just coming in." The eyes of all present were
immediately turned to the entrance, and those to the right of the
principal respectfully stepped aside. They saw no one enter, however,
and were therefore all the more positively convinced that the prophet
Elijah had entered invisible, had seated himself on the right of his
friend Joseph, and had been present during the whole of his discourse.
After that time no one dared occupy the place at the side of the
principal of the Pumbeditha academy, for it had been honored and
hallowed by Elijah, and it became the custom to leave it vacant.
Joseph's successor, Mar-Abraham ben Sherira (816-828), was likewise a
mystic. It was said that he could foresee the future from the rustling
of palm leaves on a calm day.
More liberal views, and even Karaism, found a way into the halls of
learning, just as mysticism had done before. Through these opposed
views quarrels naturally arose, which came to light when the office
of Exilarch was to be filled. In the year 825 there was to be the
election of a new Prince of the Exile. For this office there were two
candidates, David ben Judah and Daniel. The latter was inclined to
Karaism, and perhaps just on this account found in southern Babylonia
many supporters who gave him their votes. The Babylonians in the north,
who belonged to Pumbeditha (Anbar), decided in favor of David, as he
doubtless belonged to the orthodox party. The quarrel was carried on
with much virulence. The mystic Abraham ben Sherira was deposed in
consequence, and Joseph ben Chiya appointed in his place. It is not
known by which party this was brought about. But Abraham had followers
in Pumbeditha, who gave him their support, and refused allegiance
to the rival Gaon. The quarrel could not be decided by their own
authorities, and both parties appealed to the Caliph Almamun to confirm
the Exilarch of their choice. Almamun, however, at that time was
engaged in a dispute about the Eastern Church. He had been called upon
to decide between two claimants for the Chaldæo-Christian Patriarchate,
and wanted to rid himself of such litigation. He therefore declined
to interfere in the internal affairs of the Jews and Christians, and
decreed that in future each party should be empowered to elect its
own religious chief. If ten Jews wished to elect an Exilarch, ten
Christians an Archbishop, or ten Fire-worshipers a Chief Priest, they
had the power to do so. This decree was unsatisfactory to both parties,
inasmuch as it left the quarrel undecided; it is not certain how
it ended. So much, however, is known: David ben Judah asserted his
authority, and filled the post for about ten years (till 840).
In the school of Sora also quarrels broke out (827). The quarrel
between the chiefs lasted for a long time in the school of Pumbeditha.
Eventually a compromise was effected. There were to be two Gaons
holding office together, who should share equally the title and the
revenue. Abraham, however, was to have the privilege of delivering the
address at the general assemblies.
One day both heads of the school at Pumbeditha met in Bagdad at
an installation ceremony, at which it was customary to give an
address. The capital of the Caliphate had at this time a numerous
Jewish community and several synagogues. Bagdad, which was nearer to
Pumbeditha than to Sora, belonged to the district of the School of
Pumbeditha. Its president was there given the preference to him of Sora.
When the lecture was to begin, and it was proclaimed aloud, "Hear what
the heads of the schools are about to say," those present burst into
tears on account of the disunion in their midst. The tears of the
multitude had so mighty an effect upon Joseph ben Chiya that he arose,
and publicly tendered his resignation in favor of his opponent.
He received an insulting blessing as the reward of his noble resolve.
"May God give you a share in the world to come," said his opponent, who
now assumed his position. It was only after Abraham's death (828), that
the noble Joseph was re-installed as Gaon of Pumbeditha (828-833).
All disputes had ceased in the school of Sora, but they soon broke out
again, and created such confusion, that Sora was without a Gaon for two
years (837-839). We are in the dark as to the true reason of all this
discord, but it is probable that the rise of Karaism had something to
do with it. However much the Rabbanites hated the Karaite sect, and
though they declared it heretical, and kept away from it, yet they
adopted several of its teachings, and imitated it in others.
But if Anan's sect had sown the seeds of dissension amongst the
followers of the more ancient sect, it was itself not by any means
free therefrom. The principal dogma of Karaism was unlimited freedom
in exegesis, and the regulation of religion according to the result
of honest inquiry. The result was that every Karaite constructed his
Judaism according to his own interpretation of the text. Religious
practice was regulated according to the clever or silly ideas of the
expositor. Moreover, exegesis was yet in its infancy. The knowledge of
the Hebrew language, the basis of a healthy, rational exegesis, was
still scanty, and arbitrariness had every opportunity of asserting
itself. Every one believed himself to be in possession of the truth,
and when he did not condemn them, pitied those who did not share his
views. We have a sad picture of the condition of Karaism scarcely a
century after Anan's death. New sects, too, arose from it, the founders
of which had strange ideas about some customs of Judaism. Musa (or
Mesvi) and Ishmael, from the town of Akbara (seven miles east of
Bagdad), are said to have held peculiar views about the observance
of the Sabbath. What these views were we do not now know, but they
approached the doctrines of the Samaritans. The two Akbarites further
declared that the Pentateuchal prohibition against eating certain parts
of the fat of an animal only referred to the sacrifices, and that it
was permissible to use them otherwise. Musa and Ishmael found followers
who lived according to their doctrines. These formed a sect within
Karaism, and called themselves Akbarites.
Simultaneously with these there arose another false teacher, Abu-Amran
Moses, a Persian from the little town of Safran (near Kerman-Shah in
Persia), who had emigrated to the town of Tiflis in Armenia. Abu Amran
Altiflisi propounded other views, which he believed were based upon
the text of the Bible. He, like the other Karaites, wished to have the
marriage of an uncle with his niece considered among the prohibited
unions. He had peculiar views about the calendar, differing both from
those of the Karaites and those of the Rabbanites. There was to be no
fixed calendar, nor was the month to commence when the new moon became
visible, but at the moment of its eclipse. Moses, the Persian, denied
bodily resurrection, and introduced other innovations which are not
known in detail. His followers formed themselves into a peculiar sect,
under the name of Abu-Amranites or Tiflisites, and continued to exist
for several centuries.
Another Moses (or Mesvi), from Baalbek in Syria, continued the schism,
and departed still more from Karaism. He affirmed that the Feast of
Passover must always happen on Thursday, and the Day of Atonement
on the Sabbath, because this day is designated in the Bible as "the
Sabbath of Sabbaths." In many points, Moses of Baalbek differed from
both the Karaites and the Rabbanites. He enacted amongst his sect that
in praying they should always turn to the west, instead of turning in
the direction of the Temple. He, too, formed a sect called by his name,
which continued to exist for a long time.
As Karaism had no religious center, and no spiritual court to represent
its unity, it is quite natural that there could be no sympathy between
one Karaite community and another. And so it happened that the people
of Khorasan observed the festivals in a manner different from that of
the other Karaites.
In the principles which the Karaites by and by were forced to lay
down, in order, in a measure, to put a stop to the individualistic
tendencies of their adherents, who were always forming new sects, they
recognized the authority of tradition. They accepted the laws for
slaughtering and the manner of fixing the beginning of each month,
under their rule that a great many customs, not prescribed in either
the Law, the Prophets or the Hagiographa, yet universally observed
among the members of the Jewish race, were obligatory as religious
practices. This rule of agreement or analogy was later called by them
tradition (Haatakah) or hereditary teaching (Sebel ha Yerusha). In
practice, however, they were arbitrary, inasmuch as they retained one
custom as traditional, while they rejected others possessed of equal
claims to be considered traditional. The rule of analogy led Karaism
into new difficulties, especially as regards the marriage of certain
blood-relations. They fell from one difficulty into another. They held
that the affinity between a man and his wife was, according to the
Bible, continuous. Consequently step-children should not be allowed to
intermarry. But they went still further. The affinity between a man and
his wife continues, they said, even if the marriage is dissolved. If in
such a case the husband or the wife marries again, the affinity extends
to the new families, although they are unknown to each other. Hence
the members of the family of the first husband cannot intermarry with
the members of the second husband's family. This affinity continues
to the third and fourth generations. Thus the circle of affinity
was considerably enlarged. The authors of this system of artificial
relationship called it "handing over" (Rikkub, Tarkib). Why they
should have stopped at the fourth generation it is difficult to see,
but it appears that they feared the ultimate consequences. Such was
the confusion in which Karaism had enveloped itself in its endeavor to
break with the past.