Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site spuxll.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxb!mhuxn!mhuxm!mhuxj!houxm!whuxlm!spuxll!mis From: mis@spuxll.UUCP (Meyer Steinberg) Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: Ethiopian Jews another possible backround Message-ID: <625@spuxll.UUCP> Date: Mon, 11-Feb-85 11:13:25 EST Article-I.D.: spuxll.625 Posted: Mon Feb 11 11:13:25 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 12-Feb-85 06:20:10 EST Organization: AT&T Information Systems, South Plainfield NJ Lines: 56 In response to my original posting about the possible backrounds of Ethiopian Jews, Meg Mcroberts gave the following possibility also. Thanx Meg! From uucp Tue Feb 5 18:33 EST 1985 >From ihuxi!megann Tue Feb 5 17:33:39 1985 remote from ihnp4 Date: 5 Feb 85 17:33:39 CST (Tue) From: ihnp4!ihuxi!megann Received: by ihnp4.ATT.UUCP; id AA04109; 5 Feb 85 17:33:39 CST (Tue) Apparently-To: !houxm!whuxlm!spuxll!mis Meyer, i read your list of possible backgrounds for the Ethiopian Jews. i'm curious why you think they necessarily have to go back to pre-Talmudic times. Rabbinic Judaism didn't really "win" the battle of being the only REAL judaism until several centuries after the Talmuds were completed. the major anti-rabbinic group was the Karaites, who were still pretty strong in the XVIII century, although by then were clearly heterodox. (remember Voltaire thought they were the only jews who were "all right". . .) Saadiah Gaon (late X century c.e.) fought the Karaites pretty successfully, and probably from that point on we have to call non-rabbinic jews heterodox, but when he was battling, it was a battle of equals, more or less. Judah Ha-Levi in XII century Spain also argued against the Karaites -- they were rapidly sinking out of the main stream, but still a force with which to be reckoned. i'm not saying that the Ethiopians are Karaite-descendants, merely that Rabbinic Judaism was only one form of judaism until less than a millenia ago. in fact, the Chazars converted to judaism more than a century before they brought in Rabbinic scholars to teach them that tradition. i do wonder if the Falashas aren't descendants of some Karaite group, though. i'm pretty ignorant here, but i know, for instance, that the Karaites extinguished all flames before the beginning of Shabbat or Yom Tov, which is similar to the Ethiopian tradition, i believe. Do you know if the Ethiopians consider chicken to be a forbidden animal? I know the Karaites forbade all fowl, since specific fowl are prohibitted by name in Tanach, and they weren't sure of the translation over the years. (a mind-boggling thought, jews without chicken soup. . .) of course, it seems there were lots of "judaizing" cults around at the time Islam arose, and that continued for several more centuries. in a way, i think Islam might have helped consolodate the judaizing groups into either jewish or not-jewish, because of the separate legal systems for "people of the book" versus other non-muslims. but that's another question. i'm interested in your reply to all this. meg mcroberts ihuxi!megann