THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, February 26, 1982 5
New 'Acts of Faith Volume Explains Jewish Religious Sects
By ALLEN A. WARSEN
quested that it construct a
"Acts of Faith: a Journey church. The president of
to the Fringes of Jewish Mexico ruled in favor of a
Identity," authored by Dan school.
Ross and published by St.
Among the earliest schol-
Martin's Press, is a study of ars who explored this sect
Jewish sects found in was anthropologist Raphael
Europe, Africa, Asia and Patai of the Hebrew Uni-
America. Three of these versity of Jerusalem. His
sects will be reviewed in researches and conclusions
this article.
constitute the principal
Strange is the story of the sources of Ross' account of
so called Indian Jews of the "israelitas."
Mexico. Concentrated in the
Patai discovered that
village of Venta Prieta, they the "israelitas," like the
first came to the attention of vast majority of the Mex-
'le Mexican Jews in the icans were "mestizos"
)30s when the Mexico City and not Indians. He also
newspapers reported that a discounted the view that
feud started between the they were descendants of
"israelitas" and the Spanish Marranos. He
"catelicos" of Venta Prieta. found that the "is-
The former demanded that raelitas" originally were
the government build a members of the Protes-
school for all the children of tant fundamentalist "Ig-
the village; the latter re- lesia de Dios"• (the
Church of God), a sect
I
"which abstains from
pork, observes the Sab-
bath on Saturday, and
claims to be the spiritual
heir of ancient Israel."
Why and when the "is-
raelitas" broke away
from "Iglesia de Dios" is
still a mystery.
When Patai visited Venta
Prieta in 1948, there were
only 50 "israelitas." They
included the most respected
and wealthiest villagers,
including the local magis-
trate who also was the
president of the synagogue.
- Their synagogue, an
adobe structure, "was fur-
nished with a Holy Ark, a
table covered with a white
cloth and four benches. The
tablecloth contained the in-
scription "Iglesia de dios."
Their prayers consisted of
Christian hymns and a few
Hebrew songs. During the
JEWISH
service the worshipers often
NATIONAL FUND
kneeled and the girls cup-
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At first, the "israelitas"
Monday thru Thursday,
were shunned by the
SAY IT
WITH
TREES
9 AM to 5 PM
Friday 9 AM to 4 PM
7-11r1 , 17
Mexican Jews. However,
as they moved closer to
traditional Judaism, the
attitude of many Mexican
Jews became more
friendly towards them.
Jewish youths even
began to teach them He-
brew.
A group of Reform young
people from New York came
to Venta Prieta and helped
the "israelitas" build a so-
cial and cultural center.
Others helped them con-
struct a new brick
synagogue.
"Their community," Ross
states, "passed a milestone
in 1963 when its first youth
went to Israel" to study in
an agricultural college
where he later became an
instructor. Since then, more
"israelitas" settled in the
Holy Land.
* * *
"The Split Identity of the
Karaites" traces the
Karaite origin to Iraq.
There, in the Eighth Cen-
tury, the opponents of rab-
binical Judaism formed
their own religious sect bas-
ing its beliefs exclusively on
the Bible.
Since then the Karaites
settled in many lands form-
ing their own Diaspora.
Their numbers varied
throughout their long his-
tory. However, at the be-
ginning of World War II, 18
Karaites lived in Germany,
250 in France, 1,200 in Po-
land and Lithuania, 10,000
in the Soviet Union and
10,000 in the Middle East,
including Palestine.
Incredibly, the Nazis
did not consider the
European Karaites as
Jews. They therefore es-
caped the consequences
of the "fmal solution."
In Israel, the Karaites
have their own rabbis, a
chief rabbinate, a national
council, kosher slaughter-
ers, mohels and religious
courts. But they are not
allowed legally to marry
other Jews.
Their central synagogue
and religious center are lo-
cated in Ramla. Signific-
antly, they use the word
Karaite as an adjective and
not as a noun. Thus the sign
on the entrance door to their
center reads "Center of
Karaite Jews in Israel."
Characteristic are their
religious practices: They
don't wear shoes in their
synagogue because God told
Moses, "Put off thy shoes
from off thy feet, for the
place whereon thou
standest is holy ground."
The traditional Jews
base their laws of "kas-
hrut" on the biblical pro-
hibition, "Thou shalt not
seethe a kid in its
mother's milk," and
interpret this prohibition
metaphorically. The
Karaites use it literally.
"Until recently they
would not keep lamps or
fires burning on the Sab-
bath even if they had been
kindled on Friday after-
noon." But lately some "dis-
senters" began using elec-
tric lights on the Sabbath.
They thus split the commu-
nity into "friends of light"
and "friends of darkness."
They consider a Jew any-
one whose father is Jewish.
The most tragic event in
their history occurred on
July 15, 1099. The Crusad-
ers, conquerors of
Jerusalem, "herded all its
Jews — Karaite and Rab-
banite alike — into a
synagogue, set it on fire and
burned them alive.
Unlike the Karaites, the
Samaritans believe only in
the five books of Moses. Samaritan sect "was the
They deny they are° either last three pre-Christian
Jews, Christians or Mos- centuries." He contends
lems. Calling themselves that the Samaritan sect was
"Shamerim" (the "Obser- then one of many competing
vant"), they are sects that claimed "to pos-
monotheists and revere sess the true Israelite reli-
Moses. Their main annual gion." During that period,
event is the sacrifice of the the Samaritans formulated
Paschal Lamb on Mount their beliefs, including their
Gerizim on the 14th day of acceptance of the Pen-
Nisan.
tateuch, the reverence of
The
Samaritans Moses and "the sanctity of
number 500 souls: half Mount Gerizim."
live in Nablus and half in
"Acts of Faith: a Journey
Holon, a suburb of Tel to the Fringes of Jewish
Aviv. Though small in Identity" contains the su-
numbers, "they are a liv- perb photographs that illus-
ing people with their own trate and dramatize the
history, their own poets, text. Combined, they pro-
philosophers, heroes, vide a deeper understand-
holocausts, and their ing and greater apprecia-
own struggle for survi- tion of the religious sects
val."
that evolved during the mil-
What about the genesis of lenia of Jewish history.
this ancient people? Schol-
ars have given different an-
OFFICIAL (--) AGENCY
swers to this puzzling ques-
tion. Recently, however, "a
broad consensus has begun
to coalesce" resulting from a
publication that appeared
in 1975. Authored by R. J.
Coggins, it bears the name
"Samaritans and Jews."
According to Coggins, the
formative period of the
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