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Bidding Information
Lot #    19738
Auction End Date    1/8/2008 12:26:00 PM (mm/dd/yyyy)
          
Title Information
Title (English)    Mi-Hayyei ha-Karaiim
Title (Hebrew)    מחיי הקראים
Author    Reubin ben Abraham ha-Levi Fahn
City    Berlin
Publisher    Benjamin Harz
Publication Date    1922
          
Collection Information
Independent Item    This listing is an independent item not part of any collection
          
Description Information
Physical
Description		    109, [2] pp. octavo 220:145 mm., wide margins, light age staining, lacking portrait. A very good copy bound in the original boards.
          
Paragraph 1    Added t.p.: Mechajje Ha-Kraim. Aus dem Leben der Karaiten
          
Detailed
Description		    Study on the life of the Karaites in Halicz, Galicia by Reubin ben Abraham ha-Levi Fahn. The text is comprised of eighteen chapters describing the life and customs of this Karaite Judaism or Karaism (meaning: Readers [of Scripture]) is a Jewish schismatic movement characterized by the sole reliance on the Tanakh as scripture, and the rejection of the Oral Law (the Mishnah and the Talmud) as halakha (Legally Binding, i.e., required religious practice). This name was chosen by the adherents of Karaite Judaism to distinguish themselves from the adherents of Rabbinic Judaism. They originated in Baghdad, which is in present day Iraq. When interpreting scripture, Karaites strive to adhere only to the p'shat (plain meaning) of the text. This is in contrast to Rabbinical Judaism, which employs the methods of p'shat, remez (implication or clue), drash ("deep interpretation," based on breaking down individual words, e.g., breaking down "be'ra'shit" to "beit" "ra'shit" which means two startings of) and sod ("secret," the deeper meaning of the text, drawing on the Kabbalah). In modern times Karaite Judaism has formed its own independent Jewish organization, and is not a member of any Rabbinic organization. Today there are approximately 30,000 Karaites worldwide, with 20,000-25,000 of them living in Israel, mostly in Ramla, Ashdod and Beersheba. Reubin ben Abraham ha-Levi Fahn, (1878–1939?) was a Hebrew writer and investigator of Karaism. Born in eastern Galicia, he became a prosperous merchant in Halicz and developed an interest in the town's Karaites. He settled in Stanislav in 1918 and became secretary of the National Council of Galician Jewry in the short-lived West Ukrainian Republic (1918–19). On the of World War II he was put on trial by the Russians for Zionist activities and taken to Russia where he disappeared without trace. A regular contributor to the Hebrew press from his youth, Fahn wrote poetry, articles, and stories, particularly on the Karaites, and studies of Haskalah literature. Two volumes of his collected works were published: Sefer ha-Kara'im (1929) and Pirkei Haskalah (1937). A book of his essays, Massot, appeared in Jerusalem in 1943 (preface by Dov Sadan). His Mivhar Ketavim (selected works), ed. by N. Govrin, appeared in 1969.
          
Reference
Description		    BE mem 1365; EJ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karaite_Judaism
        
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Listing Classification
Period
20th Century:    Checked
  
Location
Germany:    Checked
  
Subject
  
Characteristic
Language:    Hebrew
  
Manuscript Type
  
Kind of Judaica