Friday, May 11, 1919 25 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS MON NM. SAVE I■ 1 III mi I I I I I I 111 RANY MAKE OR MODEL a : ■ iii . ■ II.aF II 11 , NOON METZ _I in- LEASE MANAGER 1111 "SALES COORDINATOR NEW '79 BUICKS TREMENDOUS SAVINGS OUT OF CAR • I I 111 CALL ME FOR 111 DETAILS I I TAKE THE I MYSTERY ▪ LEASING ■ • mill ✓ BuiCK-OPEC INC II • Lig 600 S. Main Royal Oak, Mich. 48067 I I I I • III 548-3600 ■ Immoulumos. Karaim Press for Status in Eyes of Israel's Leaders By MOSHE RON The Jewish News Special Israel Correspondent A total of 20,000 Karaim are living in Israel. They came from Egypt after the establishment of the state in 1948. The call themselves Karaim as a shortening of the words "Bnei Hamikra," which means that they are only observing the written laws of the Torah (Mikra) and not those issued ver- bally by the rabbis in the Mishna, Gemara, Shulhan Arukh, etc. According to historians, this branch of Judaism originated in the Eighth Century, but he Karaim maintain, that their origin dates back to the times of the First Tem- ple. The Karaim demand that the Israeli government rec- ognize them as an official "religious sect" in order to grant them judicial rights in their religious affairs. It means that their sages should be allowed to marry and divorce couples of their sect, etc. After the visit of Egyp- tian President Anwar Sadat in Jerusalem, the Karaim demanded that the Israeli government ask the Egyptians during peace negotiations to transfer to Israel histori- cal Bibles and ritual tools which they left in Cairo. The chairman of the Karaim sect in Israel, Dr. Michael Kurinalandi, a lecturer in the Tel Aviv University, criticized the Israeli ,grovernment in a FREEDOM CLEANERS 24681 Coolidge at 10 Mile 545-1300 r- i I 1 1 IN MER INO M IM EO= NM COUPON , SPECIAL PLAIN SLACKS I I I I 99c 2 Day Servic e Please must be presented with incoming order I 1 1 I I 1 I 1 I I I I Limit 10 Pair 1 FREEDOM CLEANERS — EXPIRES MAY 31, 1979 I I I ▪ MNI=MIN = MEN MIMI NM 11111 - 1=1 MN= NW • OM MINIMINIBM1111111•110111•1111•111•11111111 COUPON SPECIAL PLAIN SWEATERS 2 Day Service Please 99c must be presented with incoming order Limit 10 ▪ FREEDOM CLEANERS — EXPIRES MAY 31, 1979 a I I press conference for de- laying the decision of granting an official status to the Karaim sect. He said, that for 30 years the sect was not recog- nized officially. The Israeli government 15 years ago appointed a special commission, headed by Chief Justice Moshe Zil- berg, to study the problem. The commission proposed to establish a legal status for the Karaim sect in order to enable it to wed and divorce and settle personal con- flicts. But up till today hardly anything was done to solve this problem. The 20,000 Karaim still con- sider themselves as step- children of the state, though they fulfill all their duties towards the state. The Karaim maintain that they are part of the Jewish people, but there are certain differences. The Karaim do not put on tefi- lin, they do not insist on a minyan for prayers and they do not recognize Hanuka as a Jewish holi- day. Their men have the right to divorce their wives against their will and they have a different approach in the question of paying alimony. The first-born is valued according to the religion of the father and not of the mother. They ob- Magazine Writers Now Eligible for '79 Smolar Award NEW YORK — The 1979 Smolar Award competition for excellence in North American Jewish Jour- nalism has been opened to writers whose work appears in magazines as well as in newspapers. Nominations for the award are now being accepted. Awards will be presented for excellence in news coverage, analysis and in- terpretation; editorial; col- umns; features, and career service. Nominations can be made by newspapers, mag- azines, journalists, organ- izations. In this year's competition, the Committee decided to permit writers to enter in more than one category but to limit them to submitting a maximum of five pieces of writing. The Smolar Award was established by the Council of Jewish Federations in 1972 in honor of Boris Smo- lar, a distinguished jour- nalist, author and editor- in-chief emeritus of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. . serve the custom of circum- cision on the eight day after birth, but in form of suck- ing. The Karaim forbid mar- riages among relatives. If a Karai marries a Jewish girl, he is expelled from the sect. They strictly observe the Shabat laws and forbid sex- ual intercourse on Friday night. The oldest son gets two thirds of the inheri- tance and has more privileges than the other sons. The Karaim wish to have special religious courts which could deal with matters of personal status. In 1956, when a trial took place in Cairo against a group of Jews, who were accused of spy- ing for Israel, two Karaim were sentenced to death and executed. The Karaim had hoped then, that they would be offi- cially in Israel. Years later the Karai Josef Murad appealed to the chief rabbinical court in Tel Aviv to arrange his mar- riage to a Jewish girl. The court feared a precedent, and the leaders of the Karaim sect opposed such a wedding. Murad had to can- cel the marriage. There were cases, in which Karaim rabbis 'arranged weddings, but the mar- riages were not recognized by the Israeli Ministry for Religious Affair.s There were cases, in which couples did not live together in harmony. A Karaim court ordered the husband to divorce his wife, but he refused. He appealed to the High Court in Jerusalem, stating, that the Karaim court had no judi- cial right. It was a compli- cated case. Because if the Karaim court had no judi- cial right to deal with this matter, it also had no right to arrange weddings and so all children from such il- legal marriages would be bastards. The High Court in Jerusalem proposed that the couple should reach an agreement about its divorce by itself. By this way the question of the status of the ' WHILE YOU WAIT , 7 00 LG For REGISTER NOW FOR BEGINNERS PHOTOGRAPHY CLASSES LENS OPENING , 353-5330 CAMERA) & viN0 WE DISCOUNT OUR PRICES. 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Southfield, Mich. 48076 557-6644 MOTHER'S DAY IS MAY 13th Large selection of rings watches and other fine jewelry 14 and 18 K GOLD Crj Diamonds and Fine Jewelry These services done on premises • Jewelry Repair • Watch Repair • Restringing Prize Sculpture NEW YORK (JTA) — Dr. Maurice Hexter, executive consultant and former executive vice president of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York from 1941 to 1967, was awarded the gold medal by unanimous vote of the Na- tional Sculpture Society jury of awards for a larger than life-size stone bust of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. rPASSPORT , PHOTOS IN COLOR Karaim court in religious and personal matters was evaded. When the Begin govern- ment got into power, the Karaim hoped that it would settle the question of their status, but the government is busy with other urgent matters and could not find the time to look for a solu- tion for this matter up till now. Therefore, the Karaim renewed the struggle for their rights. 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