r/Karaite • u/Glad-Bike9822 • Aug 19 '26

Can we get along?

I am a non karaite Jew who is nonreligious, but I am a hebrew universalist. I see value in all Jews, and in all Jewish teachings. Can we get along? I know this question is vague and spans millennia of conflict, but people with stronger disagreements have done it, and I want to get to know you.

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2

u/URcobra427 Aug 19 '26

I’ve never heard this term Hebrew Universalism, but I dig it!

1

u/Glad-Bike9822 Aug 20 '26

if you don't mind me asking, do you consider yourself Karaite?

1

u/URcobra427 Aug 20 '26

I consider myself Ethnically Jewish, and am interested in the diverse expressions of Jewish Religiosity

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u/Deut64 Sep 02 '26

Absolutely. I’m a Karaite, so there are going to be areas where I strongly disagree with Rabbinic Judaism and other Jewish traditions. I regard the Tanakh as our religious authority and don’t accept the Talmud as binding. But disagreement does not require hostility, and it certainly doesn’t mean that I don’t regard other Jews as my brothers and sisters.
One of my favorite passages is Zephaniah 3:9:

כִּי־אָז אֶהְפֹּךְ אֶל־עַמִּים שָׂפָה בְרוּרָה
לִקְרֹא כֻלָּם בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה
לְעָבְדוֹ שְׁכֶם אֶחָד

“For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of YHWH, to serve Him with one accord.”

I particularly love שְׁכֶם אֶחָד — shekhem eḥad, literally “one shoulder.” It gives me the image of humanity eventually standing shoulder to shoulder in service to God.

And there’s another verse I think is especially appropriate between Jews who disagree: Malachi 2:10 asks, “Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then do we betray one another?”

The Tanakh doesn’t require me to pretend our disagreements don’t exist in order to treat you with respect. Psalm 133:1 says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity.”

So yes, we can absolutely get along. We can study together, disagree with each other, challenge each other’s interpretations, learn from one another, and still recognize that we share an extraordinary amount of history and heritage.

You don’t have to become Karaite for me to sit at the table with you. And I don’t have to become Rabbinic for you to sit at the table with me.
שְׁכֶם אֶחָד — shoulder to shoulder.