This thread has turned into a debate/argument between a "non-denominational" and a "Messianic Jewish Catholic" in this MJ forum? Thought the thread's Title might weave itself toward the
"Order of the Haggadah of the Feast of Passover According to the Custom of the Karaite Jews" instead of its current Rabbit Trail.
Karaite Judaism doesn't accept the “Oral Torah”—the Talmud, the Shulchan Aruch and other halachic (Jewish legal) texts—but they consider themselves to be devout Jews: The Karaites numbered about 40 percent of the Jewish people at their height, but today they have shrunk to less than one percent.
When interpreting the Tanakh, Karaites strive to adhere to the plain or most obvious meaning (
peshat) of the text; this is not necessarily the literal meaning, but rather the meaning that would have been naturally understood by the ancient Israelitles when the books of the Tanakh were first written. By contrast, Rabbinic Judaism relies on the legal rulings of the Sanhedrin as they are codified in the Midrash, Talmud, and other sources to indicate the authentic meaning of the Torah.
I have tremendous admiration for the Karaites. When I first found out about them; I started looking for a local Karaite synogogue. Well, there aren't any; but that wouldn't seem to matter because of
this:
What is Karaite Judaism?
Karaite Jews are a small but growing community within Judaism that coalesced about 1200 years ago. The congregations were drawn together by the common belief that the Talmud, a series of commentaries written by Rabbis, is not a second "Oral Torah" but is merely made up of commentaries written by men. Karaite Jews do not believe that men may offer interpretations that contradict the written scriptures. Karaites observe the commandments by the plain meaning ("Peshat" in Hebrew). As a result Karaites do not light candles on Shabbat, which is forbidden in the Torah; do not separate meat and dairy in their meals as this is a practice purely of Rabbinical origin; and women have greater rights and play a greater role in the community as the scriptures do not include much of the misogyny that pervades Rabbinical commentaries. Karaite Judaism includes traditions and practices that assist in the observance of these commandments provided that no tradition or practice may violate any requirement of the Torah (the Five Books of Moses), or the Prophets and Writings that comprise the Hebrew Bible.
The Torah clearly states: "Do not add to what I command you nor subtract from it, keep the commandments that I, YHVH your ruler, gave you." Devarim (Deuteronomy) 4:2.
Please be aware that the word Karaite or Qaraim is used by many people who are not affiliated with Karaite Judaism but who have decided to take the name for one reason or another. To this end please inquire of anyone who calls themselves a Karaite Jew if they are in fact Jewish or if they are associated with Universal Karaite Judaism, the official Karaite community.
There are no Karaites who believe that Yeshua (Jesus) or Muhammed were prophets and anyone who claims this, or espouses beliefs that are incompatible with Judaism, is not a member of the Karaite Jewish Community. Links to official Karaite websites are included below.
http://www.beneimikra.com/2010/04/origins-of-rabbinic-passover-seder.html
Despite a slim chance of finding any fellowship with them, there is still much to be learned from them. I've downloaded so many articles and PDFs from their sites; that I've lost count; and I haven't had the time to organize them all in my files.
P.S. I'm not your 'run of the mill' Non-denominational. For example, I doubt that I can ever walk into a building that has a cross on it, unless I go to do missionary work.
I told my friend that I was thinking about doing some missionary work. He said, " oh no, I know what you're thinking." He told me that I should buy some riot gear. I asked him why. He said, "that way when you walk into a church, you can put your hands on your hips, puff out your chest, and proclaim, 'I'M HERE TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH'! Then when they ask you what the riot gear is for; you can tell them, 'after I tell you the truth, you're going to want to stone me; and those stones huuuuurt'!
I believe that a true follower of Yahshua is a Notsri. There is no Notsri congregation in my area; so I settled for a Messianic congregation, as our beliefs most closely align. Notsri in English is Nazarene; but the Nazarene congregations do not closely align with what Yahshua said and practiced; so I don't call myself a Nazarene. I go with Non-denominational; so that no one gets the wrong idea about what I believe; yet it seems everyone still gets the wrong idea about what I believe. Why not just let my words tell you what I believe, instead of some ambiguous label?
Aside from that, I continued the dialogue Regarding Catholicism; because it presented the opportunity to stress the numerous accepted texts which have been in circulation with Yahshua and his followers. We can fairly reason that all of these texts are corrupted.
When I want to get a feel for the truth of what's going on in this world; I translate newspapers from all over the world. They all lie, with their own brand of propaganda; but when you read enough lies; you can start to piece together the little bits of truth that slip through.
It works backwards too. When you have truth that has lies mixed in; if you can read this truth from enough sources; you can begin to screen out the lies. The Samaritan Torah is a useful tool; and I look forward to the truth that it lends to textual criticism.
Shalom
