D-MITCH777
Member
Can anyone give me any information on Yemenite Jews?
How do they differ from other Jews?
Do they follow the Talmud?
How do they differ from other Jews?
Do they follow the Talmud?
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Yemenite Jews
- Thread starter D-MITCH777
- Start date
Did you consider looking it up?
Caladan
Agnostic Pantheist
I don't see anything wrong with asking in the Judaism DIR about it. I'll at least give a few details to start a bigger search.
Yemenite Jews are an ethnic group within a larger umbrella of Middle eastern Jewish communities. In addition they had a certain degree of isolation which gave them several distinct religious attributes, in Torah readings in synagogues, in a distinct liturgy and also in a tradition of religious poetry. one of the interesting things about them is that the elders among them still retain an original Hebrew pronounciation, played on letters such as ח (Het), ע (Aying), but most importantly ת (Tav) which is pronounced as the Greek Theta as opposed to the way we pronounce it in standard modern Hebrew.
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Input for a different thread in a different forum ...
(I did, however, have an opportunity to attend a couple of Shabbat services and found them to be more than a little interesting.)
Levite
Higher and Higher
All Jews follow the Talmud: the question is not whether, but how. Different Jews communities tend to have developed both different traditions of halachic (Jewish legal) interpretation, but also their own favored scholarly authorities, and their own common customs of observance.
The Yemenite community is one of the oldest Exilic communities: the only older ones were the Iraqi, Egyptian, and Persian communities. The traditional Yemenite pronunciation of Hebrew is said by most Hebrew linguists to most closely resemble what they conjecture spoken Biblical Hebrew to have sounded like. Yemenite Jews have a well-preserved set of midrashim (exegetical parables) composed by their own scholars, and preserving otherwise unknown midrashim by Talmudic sages. They have schools of Kabbalistic thought in many ways unlike other schools of Kabbalah, with unique understandings of mystical literature.
As I mentioned, Yemenites (like all Jewish communities) have their own sets of customs for observance and standards of halachic interpretation: these (as I have been told) seem to fall into two or three subcultures. The largest of these, AFAIK, is the last remaining Jewish community to consider their primary authority to be the Rambam (R. Moshe Maimonides, 12th century). The Yemenite liturgical rite is also of interest: it is based on nusach Edot ha-Mizrach (the liturgical rite generally common to the Middle East), but has various differences, embellishments, and additions unique to the Yemenite community, which are all quite lovely.
While I lived in Israel, I was fortunate enough to go to several Yemenite synagogues, and I found their services to be both fascinating and spiritually rich. They tend to be less melodic than Ashkenazi or Sefardi services, and much more prone to chant, in a style that was, IMO, quite reminiscent of Muslim chanting of the Quran or of Islamic prayer in Arabic (which I also heard while I lived in Israel). They seemed to have quite a lot of spiritual fervor, which I thought made for invigorating services. I am a great fan of Yemenite cooking, and frequently use their spices, or make traditional Yemenite dishes: they like an interesting mixture of pungent spices, fragrant spices, and piquant or spicy flavorings.
I've also been a big fan of Yemenite women: they tend to be scorchingly hot!
D-MITCH777
Member
Thanks for everyone's replies
Aren't Karaite Jews considered true Jews, and the Beta Israel never used to follow the Talmud.
Aren't Karaite Jews considered true Jews, and the Beta Israel never used to follow the Talmud.
Levite
Higher and Higher
Karaites are a heretical group. They were formed by a guy named Anan ben David, in the seventh century CE. He was apparently a candidate to inherit the title of Reish Galuta (Exilarch, or leader of all the Jews in Exile, a nominal title which existed from the third or fourth century CE to around the elventh century CE, not counting occasional later attempts to revive it), and, upon not receiving it, he decided to form his own Jewish community, of which he could be the head, and did so by stating that he was "reviving" the practices of the Tzedokim (Saducees), whom he claimed had the true way of interpreting Torah, and thus rejected the authority of the Rabbis of the Talmud, the Gaonim (the successors of the Rabbis of the Talmud) and the entire enterprise of Rabbinic Judaism. The Karaites were a sizable heretical threat to Judaism for several hundred years, but declined in numbers and power. Today there are just a few thousand of them left, and though relations between Karaites and Rabbinic Jews are certainly far more cordial today than they ever have been before, Karaism is still heresy according to Rabbinic Judaism.
The Beta Yisrael had no knowledge of the Talmud prior to their reconnection with the rest of the Jewish People, because their Exile predated the composition of the Talmud. However, since their escape from Ethiopia to Israel, they have adopted Rabbinic interpretations and practices, just like the rest of the Jewish People.
Levite
Higher and Higher
Yeah, the Karaites have several synagogues in Israel, and a couple in the US. They might have a couple elsewhere, too, but I don't know for sure.
As for others, sure, there are always heretical groups. Most are nowhere near as numerous as the Karaites, though-- the Karaites have a few thousand, most other heretical groups are counted big if they number above a couple of hundred.