גנזי חז"ל בספרות הקראית בימי הביניים (Rabbinic excerpts in medieval Karaite literature) (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: גנזי חז"ל בספרות הקראית בימי הביניים (Rabbinic excerpts in medieval Karaite literature) Ahouva Shulman גנזי חז"ל בספרות הקראית בימי הביניים (Rabbinic excerpts in medieval Karaite literature). By Ofra Tirosh-Becker. Vol.1 Philological and Linguistic Studies; Vol. 2, A Critical and Annotated Scientific Edition of the Texts. Pp. Vol. 1, כב + 465 ; Vol. 2, טו + 814. Jerusalem: The Bialik Institute, 2011. Cloth. This comprehensive work is an invaluable contribution to the study of rabbinic literature. It provides an additional corpus of rabbinic literature, the rabbinic material cited in the writings of the Karaites. Rabbinic Excerpts in Medieval Karaite Literature is the result of very extensive research of approximately 200 Karaite manuscripts, written by fifteen Karaite scholars in Arabic and Hebrew from the ninth to the eleventh century. Karaite scholars were familiar with rabbinic literature, and in spite of their objection to the Oral Law, they often incorporated excerpts from it in their works. Rabbinic Excerpts in Medieval Karaite Literature reveals for the first time the scope of the Karaites' practice of including rabbinic passages in their writings, and the wide range of rabbinic sources from which they were taken. The book studies these excerpts and presents them in a scientific edition. The first volume is a philological and linguistic study of the rabbinic excerpts embedded in the Karaite manuscripts. The second volume is a critical and annotated scientific edition of these excerpts. The first volume consists of fourteen chapters. In chapters 1 to 11, Tirosh-Becker discusses and thoroughly analyzes the Karaite manuscripts. In the last three chapters, she explains the methodology of her research, reviews the manuscripts used in the scientific edition, and describes the process and methods of preparing the scientific edition. Rabbinic Excerpts in Medieval Karaite Literature contains a wealth of important and useful information about the rabbinic excerpts embedded in Karaite literature. It begins with a general discussion of the main periods of the Karaite movement, which was established in the ninth century, and experienced its "golden age" during the tenth and eleventh centuries. It introduces the Karaite scholars, their activities and their extensive works, which consists of diverse literary genres, such as biblical commentary, theological [End Page 416] and philosophical essays, grammars and more, written mostly in Arabic (chap. 1). The book also discusses the Karaites' attitude toward incorporation of rabbinic literature in their writings (chap. 2). Although their ideology was based on the centrality of the Hebrew Bible, and in spite of the ideological rivalry between the Karaites and the Rabbinate, the Karaites read rabbinic literature and studied it in order to fully understand their philosophical rivals, and in order to explain their own opinions to the Karaite community. Tirosh-Becker discusses the Karaite scholars' motivation to cite a great number of rabbinic passages in their writings, and she suggests four motives: 1). As evidence to support their own arguments in the debate with the Rabbinate; 2). They wanted to present a wide range of opinions about a specific question; 3). Sometimes the rabbinic source is the only evidence for matters that are not found in the Bible or in any other source; 4). The softening of the rivalry between the Karaites and the rabbis at the end of the eleventh century facilitated the Karaites' study and use of early rabbinic literature. Tirosh-Becker concludes that the Karaite scholars had many rabbinic manuscripts in their possession, as well as access to information through contacts with heads of the rabbinic communities. Chapter 3 deals with the origin, language, and script of the Karaite manuscripts. Most of the manuscripts used in this research are from two important libraries, the British Library in London and the Firkovitz Collection in the national Russian Library in Saint Petersburg. The manuscripts were written in Arabic and in Hebrew. Tirosh-Becker notes that the Karaites' Arabic manuscripts were written in Arabic letters, which was unusual at the time, and in contradiction to the common practice of the rabbis who used to write their Arabic essays in Hebrew letters. Another unusual practice was transliterating the Holy Bible into Arabic letters. According to Tirosh-Becker it was done in order to reflect the proper pronunciation of the biblical text, either for learning purposes or to enable those who were not familiar with the Hebrew script...