What is a Karaite Jew
In this video, I share with Bob O’Dell from Root Source, about my struggles with my Orthodox upbringing, the ironic way I was introduced to Karaism, and my father’s reaction to me taking my faith in this direction. Please share your … Continue reading →
In this video, I share with Bob O'Dell from Root Source, about my struggles with my Orthodox upbringing, the ironic way I was introduced to Karaism, and my father's reaction to me taking my faith in this direction. Please share your comments below.
Hebrew Voices – What is a Karaite Jew
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Bob: Alright, we’re back, and the first thing I'd like to ask you is to tell us about what it means to be a Karaite Jew. Or let's start with you; how did you become what you now call a Karaite Jew?
Nehemia: I'm kind of an unusual person, because I've written this book called The Hebrew Yeshua vs the Greek Jesus, and a lot of Jews, especially, will hear that title and say, “Oh, you must be a Messianic Jew or a Christian.” And actually, I’m not. I’m not a Messianic or a Christian. I’m what’s called a Karaite Jew. Karaites are Jews who believe strictly in the Old Testament. Now, I was raised as an Orthodox Jew, my father was a rabbi - he was a lawyer by profession - but he was ordained as a rabbi in Chicago.
Bob: Wow, okay.
Nehemia: And sitting on his knee when I was three years old, he taught me that when Moses went up to Mount Sinai, he received two separate and distinct revelations - the written Torah and the oral Torah. Now, at a very young age I studied the written Torah, and then a few years later I started studying the oral Torah, and I asked what to me was an obvious question, which I think a lot of Orthodox Jews ask, which is, this oral Torah, which is supposed to have been written or revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai, is a series of discussions and debates by these ancient rabbis. Sometimes they say the most beautiful, wonderful, glorious things, other times they said things that didn't make sense to me.
I went to my rabbis, my teachers, and I said, “Surely when this is not consistent with the written Torah, we should throw out the oral Torah and just follow the written Torah,” which to me is the word of God, “and the LORD spoke to Moses saying…” Whereas, the oral Torah is Rabbi Meir says this and Rabbi Akiva disagrees and says something else. And sometimes they say beautiful things - don't get me wrong - but then other times it seemed to me to be inconsistent with the written Torah.
So, my rabbis, when I told them I said, “Surely we should embrace the word of God, the written Torah only.” They said, “No, that's blasphemy, it's heresy, it's what those heretics the Karaites say.” And I said, “Tell me about these Karaites, they sound like they know what they're talking about.” To me it was obvious that we should follow the written Scripture, and not the oral Scripture, the teachings of the rabbis when they're inconsistent.
That's really what motivated me to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. One of the things my rabbi said to me was, “Well, Nehemia, you think you're so smart. You think you're smarter than 2,000 years or 3,000 years of rabbis? How can you come against the 3,000 years or really 2,000 years of rabbis when they disagree with what you're saying? You don't know Hebrew well enough, or you don't know the sources well enough.” This is one of the reasons I said, “Okay, if I'm going to study, I need to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the best university in the world for biblical studies.”
So, I know the Bible, at least the Old Testament at least as well as any rabbi, if not better, based on the ancient Hebrew sources. So now they can't come to me and say, “Well it's because you don't know Hebrew well enough.” I don't say that to brag; it was really just for me. I really just wanted this information for myself, so I could look myself in the mirror and say, “When I read this, and I say I know better than those rabbis…” Look, the thing they've said to me many times is, “You don't have the authority to interpret the Bible contrary to what our rabbis say. Who are you?” And I say, “I'm the one that will stand before God on the day of judgment, and all I can do is tell Him I did the best I could with the opportunities, information and the intelligence You gave me, as limited as that is, to understand Your word, guided by You, by the Creator of the universe.” And that's all I can do, and if I'm wrong, at least it's based on doing the best that I can and not blindly following what somebody else said. And that's what it means for me to be a Karaite Jew.
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Thank you for posting this comment. Job 32:7-9 confirms 1Corinthians 2:4-16 and Romans 8:5-9 where human reasoning (as used by religions) as a priority in understanding TRUTH is condemned. The SPIRIT of The LORD GOD is Our ONLY TEACHER – The WORDS OF YEHSHUA in Matthew 23:8-10, for YEHOVAH IS SPIRIT John 4:24
Seek YEHOVAH how The PROMISE of HIM being your ONLY TEACHER can be realized so that you can hear what HE SAYS. Yeremiyahu 31:31-35 is TRUE.
Nehemiah believes that YEHOVAH is The ONLY LIVING GOD. So he can ask YEHOVAH to show HIM if YESHUA is The PROMISED MESSIAH. Nehemiah more than other people will understand that a printed text can have errors and The WORD OF THE LORD GOD is what PROCEEDS out of HIS MOUTH – Devarim 8:3
HalleluYah!! Speak life Sven Brown!!
Jesus was very clear in Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, only those who do what my Father in heaven wants. 22 On that Day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord! Didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we expel demons in your name? Didn’t we perform many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will tell them to their faces, ‘I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’
Jesus is telling us if we do not do the will of the Father which is His Commandments, God will tell us, “I never knew you! Get away from me, you workers of lawlessness!’ What is lawlessness? Not keeping the law of God! It is going to be sad to have healed the sick, cast out demons, performed miracles just to be told, I Inever knew you because you refused to keep the heart of God which is His Law.
And in Matthew 5: 17 “Do not presume that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. 18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law, until all is accomplished! 19 Therefore, whoever nullifies one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness far surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
So, Jesus says to keep the law and to teach others to keep it or you will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven.
ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Jesus was pointing out to this man that he his real god was his wealth. He was not willing to give up his money to follow Jesus.
I think Karaite Jews are 100% correct and the Torah and Tanakh is all that I too believe in and study. I would love to follow a Karaite Shabbat gathering online from my country South Africa.
I’d like to understand the Karaite relationship to tefillin and, by extension, similar practices that they interpret differently. We know based on archeology that tefillin were worn during the Second Temple and they seemed to be worn by all streams of Judaism that existed at the time – the Pharisees, the Sadducees and the Essenes – though each did so with their own variations. So here you have a practice that based on archeology is at least 2,000 to 2,500 years old. Even the Sadducees who denied aspects of Pharisaic practice wore tefillin. So why does this historical reality not count for much among the Karaites? I understand denying aspects of rabbinic Judaism that either appear to have cropped up later or that were disputed during the Second Temple, but didn’t everyone wear tefillin at the time? Does historical precedent play a role in Karaite exegesis? I’m asking this respectfully, out of genuine curiosity.
Prove by scripture that “Jesus” and the NT is fiction.
The Jesus story is fiction. The religion made up about Jesus after his death, “Christianity,” is purely pagan and cannot be reconciled to the Covenant which an eternal God ever stands by.
In the renewed covenant scriptures in the book of 2nd James.. Verses 17&18.
Having found Michael Rood… then Nehemia and Keith Johnson… and Tom Bradford… I follow what is written in John 14:15. “If you love me keep my commandments.”
Perhaps anyone can answer this, but if not I hope Nehemia will: Do modern Karaites in their synagogues use Y’hovah when reading or in daily life speak the name or do they typically use a title instead? I mean this in an organized, official sense, not those who act and live as a Karaite apart from those official congregations. I act and live as a Karaite for all intents and purposes myself, so this is not disparagement but a question regarding more official and traditional Karaism. Same question in ancient Karaism, did they use the name or not? Thanks for appeasing my curiosity.
And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Then he said to Him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not commit murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; and You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mat 19:16-19). Jesus disagrees with you and your opinion, Jerry. He obviously encourages the commandments and believed them “keepable” by all for eternal life or he would not have said so. And although the book of John is interpreted to support your ideas apart from the rest of the gospels you have to temper such again with Jesus’s words, “ And Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, does not believe in Me but in Him who sent Me. He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me. I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”” John 12:44-50. Jesus only echoed his god’s and our god’s (John 20:17) will and commandments. We will all be judged by god himself as to whether we keep his commandments or not. For us to do so, just as Jesus did, requires they are keepable by all.
As a student of Hashem’s written Torah for many years, I have come to the conclusion that the answer to each human being is responsible for their actions. When the time comes to answer our Creator, we can say we followed the sages of the Rabbinates and the Karaites, or we can reply that we respond from a statement in Job 32:7-9.
“I thought, “Let age speak; Let advanced years declare wise things.”
But truly, it is the spirit in men, The breath of Shaddai, that gives them understanding.
It is not the aged who are wise, The elders, who understand how to judge.”
If each of us honestly attempts to understand and follow G-d’s eternal Torah, we cannot be excused for acting according to the sages of rabbis’ or Karaite’s beliefs.
Isaiah 29:13-15
“My Lord said: Because that people have approached [Me] with its mouth And honored Me with its lips, But has kept its heart far from Me, And its worship of Me has been A commandment of men, learned by rote— Truly, I shall further baffle that people With bafflement upon bafflement; And the wisdom of its wise shall fail, And the prudence of its prudent shall vanish. Ha! Those who would hide their plans Deep from the LORD!
It’s simple! Ecc. 12:13. The sum of the matter…Revere God and keep His commandments.
I’m from Rocky Mount. I live in Greenville. I just started researching and doing my research on Karaite Judaism.
then what will you do with christ ,or salvation,..he that beleaves on the son of god “yeshua”,..will have eternal life,..where do you stand?,..in hope thru jesus or without hope,faith or help,..trying to keep the torah law,..which no one can do!
Converted in my heart 18 years ago to karaite israelism. I’m the only one around Rocky Mount, N.C. that I know of. Everybody’s comments encourage me. Thanks.
I belong to a reform shule but strongly disagree with my fellow members over the validity or the tanakh, or whether Moshe existed among other ideas. In fact there are many aspects that make me cringe and at times I feel offended. The struggle is real. The more I hear Nehemiah speak the more identify with karaism.
I have BA in Biblical study, what best karaite Biblical study books or YouTube or classes
Pete, you don’t need to go through some man-made organisation in order to “convert” to Judaism. The Scripture says that all we need is so join ourselves to Yehovah, not to have someone else join us to Him (Isaiah 56:1-5). Hope this helps. Shalom.
My parents only celebrate holidays they we t me to a chabad wcboolmand I .myself had questions oral law andpryed For an answer and that is when I found Karite . I live in northwest .NebRaska .I am the only Jew left in this part of the state. I follow Karite .Jewdi sd m
Many have written of their mental torment and social isolation as they seek true worship of the one true God, YHVH. Who are they trying to please, God or man? They might spare themselves much pain by reference to Ecclesiastes 12:13 The sum of the matter…Revere God and keep His commandments.
Up to a point. As with all of us, it takes a lifetime to be transformed by our Father Yahuah, if we let Him…
He guides us, answers our questions, puts people across our path.
He will let Himself be found by those who seek Him.
We cannot fault His faithfulness.
Kara is the Hebrew word for Scripture. Karaite literally means “Scripturalist”.
Shalom.
I am Chandrababukale living in India state of andhrapradesh. I am fallowing judasim.
Please send details. Chuftkale.details
Is the term karaite jew is biblically correct ‘ and if so where this derive from?
Hi Nehemia, long story but in short:
We are busy converting to Orthodox Judaism at this moment.
We did try to convert to Karait but it doesn’t seem possible outside the US or perhaps Israel. We are in South Africa. Some advice or input on conversion to Karait please? Also – is it acceptable. Eg: Can you make aliyah?
I absolutely loved this video! I always learn something new from Nehemia and his interviews. Now we can watch him and soak in his whole being when he shares. Thank You Heavenly Father, YHWH Elohim for Nehemia proclaiming on the wall! I hope to always support him in different ways! Prayer is my most precious drink offering to our God of Israel! Precious beyond words!
Greetings Nehemiah, we have a new Rabbi coming to our town and this information will be a good basis for understanding and insight into origins and the Karaite movement. I had another question, do Karaite’s have wedding ceremonies on Sabbath?
I know what the Karaites believe, but the point I was trying to make initially, and perhaps didn’t explain fully, was that the commandment of Yeshua in John 14:15
I left Christianity about 8 years ago, my wife didn’t, and that initially that put a huge strain on our relationship. My brother once confronted me and asked “are saying that all those great christian theologians are wrong?”. I just looked at him and said: “there was no way I can answer for them, all I can tell you is that I think I was wrong.”.
When the days of remembrence come around. There are no family gatherings, now elaborate celebrations, or big meals. Nope, its just me, sometimes I make a sandwich and spend the day reading about and remembering those things God has done.
There was a time too when the pastor of my wifes church would try to convince me to come back to the flock. But I am better armed with biblical knowledge to defend my position now. Unfortunately because of that, even he gave up and honestly I do miss our conversations.
Mona,
Karaites do not accept the NT and do not believe that Jesus/Yeshua is the Messiah. A Karaite Jew only accepts the Hebrew Tanakh as it’s only source of scripture. True Karaites like Nehemia, reject Jesus and believe we are all under the Law. As it is written-the Commandments are forever, despite what Paul says.
Sola scriptura (Latin: by Scripture alone) is a Christian theological doctrine which holds that the Christian Scriptures are the supreme authority in all matters of doctrine and practice.
The Most famous paradigm of this in Christianity is Martin Luther, who as a Catholic monk reading the scriptures was enlightened by the Holy Spirit that men’s salvation is by faith in YHWH alone and no other teachings in the churches.
My story is different too from most I’ve heard. I wanted to just follow the Old Testament. I realized this when I was age 10 and the Gideons handed me a little New Testament with psalms and proverbs. If it was okay for some Christians to just read and follow the New Testament, I reasoned it was okay for me to just follow the Old Testament. A few years later I discovered Judaism and by age fourteen I was practicing it on my own. But I did have some disappointments from the reality that so many Jews seemed not care what the Bible said including the Orthodox or more traditional Jews, who were never able to separate themselves from the oral tradition. I identified early on with secular agnostic Zionist pioneers who knew and revered the Tanakh (think Paul Newman in Exodus) sometimes more than their kippah covered co-religionists. Since there are not many Jews where I live, I have often formed connections with messianic type people, which eventually led my parents to find themselves as messianic and we still get along wonderfully.
I have known of Nehemia since 2004/2005 when I saw him on Zola Levitt. That interview changed my life. When he spoke against the traditions not in the Bible it was a hard thing for me. I had wanted to be that very kind of person when I was growing up, a follower of Tanakh, but I didn’t know those people existed. I originally thought following the Tanakh was what Judaism was all about, or that it was the closest thing to it. By the time I saw the interview on Zola, I had been living a ‘normal’ Jewish life for several years but had not yet been able to convert and I honestly didn’t want to feel more different and isolated as I had all my life. I was a senior in high school the first time it aired and then it aired again the week before I went to college. While my struggle would continue for the next ten years, my not diving in fully into Orthodox Judaism was the result of that interview. For the first time in my life I knew that there was someone out there who was Jewish and who loved the G-d of Israel and who was guided not by halacha but by the words of the Scriptures.
I kept living a Jewish life mostly among Christians and Messianics and kept those thoughts I had all those years ago in my heart for some years now. I was finally able to convert which I did really so I would feel like I generally belonged somewhere and because I feel like the Jewish people are my people. About a year ago I was offered the opportunity to leave my area of 99.99% non-Jews and go and live in an area of Hasidism and join them. I almost did this just so I could be surrounded by Jewish people living according to their beliefs and I knew I could assimilate among them. But I know that I believe in the Tanakh above all else, so I have remained where I am. I am still pretty traditional. I do light Shabbat candles but I know that I eventually won’t be able to utter the traditional blessing. I wear a kippah when I pray and I have mezuzot on the doors in my home. I participate with my very small, very diverse local Jewish congregation (where our Torah study group is made up almost entirely of converts not one of which is similar to the other-Kabbalistic loving Orthodox converts next to Reform converts next to my messianic parents next to me). I know that the easy way is not for me. The L-rd gave me faith in the Tanakh at an early age and so I have tried to find in traditional Judaism a way to express that faith. Yet I cannot suppress what I know to be true. There is a beautiful torah written by men, wise men in fact. There is a beautiful Torah written by G-d ( I still cannot write the full name). I must follow His Torah above all else. I am not a Karaite. I was one once long ago when I was a child before I even knew the word ‘Judaism.’ But I’ve learned how to fit in with the Jewish world and learned certain customs and interpretations and it will take some time to work out this personal salvation. It is only in the last year I’ve begun to ask myself how I got to this place. Why did I become Jewish in the first place? Was it the holidays and customs and rituals (all of which I still love)? No, I became Jewish because I believed in G-d and His Holy Text. I am one of the am haaretz, and a Zionist through and through. I love the mesorah as non-binding tradition but not as divinely inspired. I appreciate the way the rabbis interpreted the texts over the last 2,000 years of exile, and yet part of me wonders if they hadn’t reinterpreted things, then maybe the Jewish people would have felt obliged to restore their sovereignty in the Land much sooner.
I am thankful to be Jewish and thankful for Nehemia who all those years ago showed me there were people out there like myself.
Most definitely I have taken a different path in faith from what I was raised as. To this day, my family is still unsure of what I’m following, even sitting with them and explaining it to them. I think that they still seem to think that I’ve rejected Jesus, and put myself under the law.
Nehemia ,Ik kom uit het traditie Christendom , maar op mijn 35ste jaar begon ik een onderzoek naar wat is waarheid , zo ben ik voor 30 jaar lang alle sabbatten gaan houden zowel alle jaarlijkse feesten en de voedselwetten , maar bleef een Christen , tot dat mijn ogen werden geopend dat er maar EEN GOD IS DIE GEEN ZOON HEEFT IN DE ZIN VAN HET CHRISTENDOM,Dat de God van Israel God is in niemand anders , gevolg alleen komen te staan maar dat is te begrijpen ook , ik werd dus een afvallige,en besmet , maar zou nooit meer terug willen naar mijn ouder staat,
Vr Groet ,
Grietje Middelkamp
I was raised to hold on to my ‘Lutheran’ faith and in adult life, after many ill experiences I came out of it and sought to see what others taught. When this was exhausted I still had no clarity so I began on my own, believe to be lead by The Spirit to do this’ I began seeing the Bible in a different understanding and felt so hungry to be taught by One True Master, YHWH. At that time I did not realize He had a name, this happened by trying the language and understand the letter[s] meaning. I found in Jeremiah/YirmeYahu “our [then, the people were told] fathers had inherited lies [one place] and “our hearts [humans, like Adam and Eve] are desperately wicked who can know it”. Confirming I also was being deceived in following any religion…
Long story, journey, in this study and learning from a 1395 Bible of Wycliffe, link http://www.sbible.ru/wyc/wycle.htm. The belief shown was due to letter changes through human thinking while evolving in time, There was no letter j and if YHWH never changes, nor repents, it has to be we are dangerously headed for disaster UNLESS we seek to know Him daily and repent from our own ways…
I join with you on the wall [in prayer by support] eager to grow into the branch of the 2 sticks HE/YHWH joins by power though the Ruach haQodesh.
Many have told me it sounds like I am a Messianic follower. The stand I take is I am only seeking Truth and conviction to be changed by my ABBA, join with others to fellowship and study to learn, as a child would do to please her Father.
Thank you ABBA for laying on Nehemiah’s heart the plan which NEVER changes and I ask you to train us all up in the way to go from toady and forward, eternal timing, My ahavah is totally coming to you to always keep a watchful eye over us all in these days to come.
Amen
May YHWH Elohim bless you, keep you and grant all Hi Peace/Shalom!
It not only amazes me on the knowledge and wisdom that Nehemia has been blessed with but how he fills in the details to back up and explains in a simple way for people who don’t know.
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