Torah Dedication Weekend (October 2023)
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- A Small Miracle in a Time of Darkness
On the weekend of October 20th, 2023, David Ovadia, President of the Karaite Jews of America, had scheduled an important event at the community’s San Francisco Bay Area synagogue, B’nai Israel, the only Karaite synagogue in the United States. The event was expected to attract participants from across the U.S. and abroad to help dedicate a new Torah scribed in Israel over the prior two years.
This video documents the small miracle that took place that weekend, allowing the proceedings to unfold at a moment of unimaginable turmoil. And it records for posterity some of the unique aspects of the community’s millennium-long heritage rooted in Egypt.
The Torah Dedication Weekend almost didn’t happen. Hamas had invaded Israel on October 7th and war broke out. The Torah scroll was in the Bay Area, but David’s counterpart in Israel, Eli Eltachan, agreed we must proceed, whether he and his team, Avi Yefet and Maor Dabah, participated in person or remotely.
It was a small miracle that they were able to book the last three seats on a connecting flight from Tel Aviv to San Francisco on October 17th. And Samy Ibrahim, David’s partner in our efforts to preserve the Karaite Jewish heritage in Egypt, overcame almost insurmountable obstacles to fly in from Cairo.
This video portrays the highlights of what happened next, as members of the community came together to pray, learn, sing, and give voice to one thought, the importance of being together, despite the tragic circumstances unfolding in Israel and Gaza. And so, the community was able to dedicate the new Torah, learn from each other, and pray for peace.
We mourned those lost, and together we looked to the future. That is what the Jewish people have always done, and it is what we must continue to do.
Very nice! Beautiful event and well-done video. Thank you for the video!
Baruch HaShem
Toda Rabah
Greetings to Shawn Lichaa.
I see you in this video.
I have enjoyed your blog and videos.
These people have a lot to be proud of
Appreciate KaraiteJudaism for its Scriptural base with Torah ahead of Talmud.
Lovely preservation of a wonderful event . Congratulations 1:18:50
I really liked the tefillah (prayer). Emotionally it felt completely Jewish.
I have been at classical Reform services with bare headed rabbis and church-like organ music which left me feeling cold distant, and detached.
Todah Rabah.
Nehemiah Gordon first kararite I met. Very cool!
Sorry to break this to you: a Jew who publicly declares -- and he stated this at Speakers Corner in London a few years ago and posted it on his own channel -- that "we pray 3 times a day" and uses the Rabbinical Torah & Haftarah cycles isn't a Qaraite. He himself even stated already years ago that he's a "non-denominational Qaraite", which is effectively an oxymoron because Qaraite Judaism *IS* a denomination.
I know he continues presenting himself as a Qaraite and can't make himself quit doing it, but it doesn't make him a Qaraite.
All this is even before judging whether the man is really a moral character or not.
I can certainly appreciate the Karaites from Egypt as fellow Jews. However, I do notice on the Internet that an assortment of people claim to be Karaites by self proclamation.
This was the Torah dedication ceremony at the synagogue in California, home to a large group of Karaite Jews from Egypt. But Jews-by-choice come from all kinds of backgrounds.
@@Paul-ben-Miqra
I do understand that Karaite Jews of America (KJA) now accept converts.
But there are people who start calling themselves Karaites without going through KJA or the Karaites in Israel. Being influenced by Christianity, some people hold an antipathy toward Rabbinic Judaism and decide they are Karaites because they want to practice an Old Testament religion without rabbis, Pharisees, and Talmud.
@@Paul-ben-Miqra
I do not know enough about the requirements of Karaite conversion to give a full answer but I think it brings up some issues in halacha for Rabbanites.
The Egyptian Karaites have a long history as Jews and were a closed community making it easier for Orthodox Rabbis to consider Karaites as Jews but with the acceptance of outsiders, this could create issues depending on the standards for conversion. Maybe the Karaites don't care?
I think the Reform Movement made a grave error when it unilaterally decided to accept patrilineal descent. Many Reform Jews grow up thinking they are Jews only to be told otherwise when interacting with more traditional Jews.
@@stephenfisher3721 It's a beautiful Torah dedication ceremony. If you have questions about Jewish conversion in the Karaite community, you should reach out to the Karaite Jews of America. There's no point in trying to read the minds of people. A person can join themselves to God (Isa 56). If someone wants to join a community, they follow what the community says. No group owns Judaism. If someone goes to another community, their "conversion" may be accepted or they may need to do a little more. The Karaite Jewish University can also answer your conversion questions. In the meantime, Mazel Tov!! for their new Torah scroll!!
@@stephenfisher3721 You must realize that it's totally legitimate for a Jew to become a Qaraite *unofficially.* I can agree that it's not really appropriate for Xtians, "former Christians" and even Jews of a non-Qaraite background to call themselves Qaraite when they do not truly and fully believe and practice like actual Qaraites. And there is obviously no room in any form of Judaism for self-conversion to Judaism. There are certainly many wannabes, phonies and fakes..
With this being said, having an antipathy toward Rabbinical Judaism is a totally legitimate attitude given its nature, plus many of the statements and actions of its various adherents, no matter how much you dislike this.
Where are the little kids? I only see a few. The crowd looks middle aged and older.
Why i don't hear the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme?? the man looks exactly like Larry David
Why women are wearing talit and kipot? I mean WHY ARE YOU WEARING THOSE RABBINIC THINGS?