Aaron ben Moses ben Asher: Difference between revisions

{{See also|Karaite Judaism}}

 

{{cite book |last1=Bowker |first1=John |title=The concise Oxford dictionary of world religions |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780191727221 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095458193 |chapter=Aaron ben Moses Ben Asher}}

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{{cite journal |last1=Zer |first1=Rafael Isaac (Singer) |title=Was the Masorete of the Aleppo Codex of Rabbanite or of Karaite Origin? |journal=Textus |date=19 August 2009 |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=239–262 |doi=10.1163/2589255X-02401014 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/text/24/1/article-p239_14.xml |issn=2589-255X}}

 

The idea was first suggested in 1860 by [[Simhah Pinsker]], who argued that Masoretes in general should be ‘suspected’ of being Karaites since they seem to have devoted all of their time to the Bible and showed no interest in rabbinic Midrash or Talmud, which at times contradicts the Masoretic Text. Numerous other pieces of circumstantial evidence were presented to make a strong case, however not strong enough to tip the scales and end the debate.<ref name="Zer2009"/><ref name="Khan2020">{{cite journal |last1=Khan |first1=Geoffrey |title=The Role of the Karaites in the Transmission of the Hebrew Bible and Their Practice of Transcribing It into Arabic Script |journal=Intellectual History of the Islamicate World |date=30 July 2020 |volume=8 |issue=2-3 |pages=233–264 |doi=10.1163/2212943X-20201013 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/ihiw/8/2-3/article-p233_4.xml |language=en |issn=2212-9421|doi-access=free }}</ref>

 

A turning point came in the 1950s when Benjamin Klar discovered that an anti-Karaite polemical poem by [[Saadia Gaon|Sa‘adia Gaon]] criticized a Karaite masorete by the name of "ben Asher".<ref name="Tawil2010"/><ref name="Zer2009"/><ref name="Khan2020"/>{{efn|Gatez seems to have already made these connections about 60 years earlier.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Graetz |first1=Heinrich |title=History of the Jews: From the revolt against the Zendik, 511 C.E., to the capture of St. Jean d'Acre by the Mahometans, 1291 C.E |date=1894 |publisher=Jewish Publication Society of America |page=207 |url=https://www.google.com/books?id=H38pAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA207}}</ref><ref name="Harris1889">{{cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=Isidore |title=The Rise and Development of the Massorah (Concluded) |journal=The Jewish Quarterly Review |date=1889 |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=247 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/1450219.pdf}}</ref>}} This fits very well with Sa‘adia's rejection of ben Asher in favor of [[ben Naftali]],<ref>{{cite web |title=MASORAH - JewishEncyclopedia.com |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10465-masorah#anchor12 |website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com}}</ref> as well the fact that, ben Asher nevertheless became accepted as relations between the Karaites and Rabbanites improved. Aron Dotan has dealt with many of the arguments, including Klar's, and also argued that the approval of Maimonides is evidence against the claim.<ref name="Zer2009"/><ref name="Khan2020"/><ref name="Tawil2010"/>{{efn|Although Dotan is credited with this argument, nearly 100 years earlier Isidore Harris too listed the arguments for and against, including the argument from Maimonides approval.<ref name="Harris1889"/>}} However, according to Zer, few researchers have expressed their support for Dotan’s position.<ref name="Zer2009"/>

 

== Footnotes ==