FOREWORD
The reason for writing this book is the fact that we Karaites are dispersed through our vast homeland, which has caused our children to not have the opportunity to obtain a traditional, Karaite, religious education.
As a result we are, step by step, losing the awareness of our origin, and very often we are unable to satisfactorily answer the questions of who we are, and where we came from.
This, my book, despite its imperfections, can provide the reader with information that will answer the above stated questions.
I have highlighted four personages that are inseparably connected with our past.
I have highlighted four personages that are inseparably connected with our past.
I have used their monographs for my narration and description of the formation and development of our faith:
Anan - the religious reformer and definer of Karaite doctrine.
Sa'adia - an anti-Karaite who slowed down the spreading of the Karaite faith.
Solomon ben Yeruḥam - a promoter and popularizer of the Karaite faith, a missionary of Ananan’s teaching, whose words and actions were the agitation against Sa'adia.
Lastly, Mordecai Kumatiano (Comtino) - a humane and tolerant Talmudist who tried to reconcile the enmity (which has continued for centuries) between Karaites and Talmudists.
