Kiddush Leil Shimmurim (Karaite Haggadah) [Egypt: ca. 14th century], sold with: Hallel le-Shabbat ha-Gadol (Karaite Liturgy for Shabbat before Passover) [Egypt; ca. 17th century]

Two volumes sold together. KIDDUSH LEIL SHIMMURIM: 10 leaves (110 x155 mm). Written in 19 lines per page in black, red, and brown ink in Oriental Hebrew semi-cursive and square scripts, headings in red ink. Partially vocalized, sometimes deviating from normative, and apparently according to local pronunciation. A single survived quire [no. XII] from a codex (here ff. 1-9) of which the 10th leaf has been lost, + a single leaf (here f. 10) is the 10th leaf of quire XIII from the same codex. The original codex was constructed of quires composed of 5 bifolia or 10 folios, as usual in the Orient; fol. 10v bears the number of the quire in Hebrew letters under the catchword. Oriental-Arabic paper with laid-lines (of different thickness in fol. 1, of which the other half of bifolia is lacking, and the rest of folios) and single chain-lines, at intervals of 25 mm. (f. 1) and 30 mm. (ff. 2-10). Soiled; losses to margins and corners; leaves strengthened at gutter. Title page with owner's note added, probably in the 17th century. Modern vellum, title gilt; black cloth slipcase. HALLEL LE-SHABBAT HA-GADOL: 32 leaves (110 x160 mm). Written in 21 lines per page in black, red, and brown ink in Oriental Hebrew semi-cursive and square scripts on seventeenth century Venetian paper, instructions in Judeo-Arabic. Vocalizations, colophon and decorative flourishes to some headings in red ink. Catch-words at foot of verso. Undated colophon, f.31r-31v; additional text in another hand, f.32r-v. Modern foliation in pencil. Stained, edges worn, corners rounded. Modern vellum, title gilt; black cloth slipcase.

The Karaites are a Jewish sect which came into being toward the middle of the ninth century and whose original doctrine is characterized primarily by its denial of the talmudic-rabbinic tradition. Over the ensuing centuries, however, Karaites also developed a tradition of their own, described by them as sevel ha-yerushah (burden of inheritance). The Karaite alternative tradition has developed over the centuries, and in some areas has come quite close to rabbinic tradition.

The two manuscripts in the present lot reflect two discrete points on the timeline of the development of Karaite tradition surrounding the holiday of Passover.

This manuscript of Hallel for the Sabbath before Passover according to the rite of Near Eastern (Oriental) Karaites represents a parallel but significantly different version from that of the Karaites of Byzantium, Crimea and Eastern Europe. This version of the Hallel for Shabbat ha-Gadol is exceedingly rare, having never been printed. It includes rare liturgical poems, some totally unknown, and others recorded only in a single manuscript in the Firkowich collection in Saint Petersburg. According to Karaite religious teacher R. Aaron ben Elijah of Nicomedia (d. 1369) in his work Sefer Gan Eden, the Saturday before Passover, which occurs more or less on the 10th of Nissan (the date upon which the biblical Israelites prepared the Paschal lamb in Egypt), has the status of a holiday, necessitating the recitation of the Hallel.

In addition to the concatenation of biblical verses and unique liturgical poems that make up the Hallel, the manuscript includes a section (22v-24v) called ha-‘Atidot,  describing the vision of the future according to the Hebrew prophets (the parallel item in the Byzantine version is called ha-Nehamot); ff.26r-27v: Kedushah, culminating in a declaration of principles of faith and a credo, testifying to the beliefs of the Karaite faith in its Near Eastern version, differing dramatically from the Byzantine version by virtue of its liberal use of Islamic terminology. The manuscript closes with a poem by a non Karaite poet, Solomon ibn-Gabirol (d. c.1058), and a prayer for atonement, written by a later owner of the manuscript, Abraham Levi, the son of the honorable R. Samuel of blessed memory.

Kiddush Leyl Shimmurim (Kiddush for the Night of Vigils,) is a Haggadah for the Passover night according to the rite of the communities of Near Eastern Karaites, probably from Egypt or the Holy Land,with Judeo-Arabic instructions. It is parallel to but textually different than the Haggadah according to the rite of Karaites of Byzantium, Crimea and Eastern Europe, called Hallel ha-Qatan. The present manuscript was once part of a larger codex which would have contained a collection of different works. In addition to the Karaite Haggadah, which is nearly complete, the present manuscript includes a fragment of a very rare poetical work by Moses ibn-Ezra, entitled he-‘Anaq.

The Karaite Haggadah, different of course from the Rabbinic, is also in itself not homogenous. There are deep differences between the version and the practice of the Near Eastern Karaite communities and those of the Byzantium, Crimea and Lithuania, in manuscript[1]and the printed editions,[2]where it is titled Hallel ha-Qatan, the Small Hallel. However, the present manuscript contains unique versions and practices of the ancient Near Eastern Karaites, have not been entirely preserved in the text of later Oriental Karaites, who adapted some details from the Byzantine Karaites’ rite.

 The text of the original Near Eastern version, more or less similar to that found in the present manuscript, has been preserved in a few fragments in the second Abraham Firkowich Collection, in the Russian National Library, St. Petersburg,[3]and in a single complete manuscript, now in the collection of the Karaite community of Ramla, produced by Abraham Cohen Shami (meaning that he was originally from Syria or Palestine), probably in Egypt, in 1716.

 Notable differences between the present haggadah manuscript on the one hand and both Rabbanite and other Karaite haggadot on the other, include the absence of any mention here of Maror (Bitter Herbs), the inclusion of which, these early Near Eastern Karaites maintained, was dependent on the offering of a Paschal sacrifice and therefore no longer in effect after the destruction of the Temple.

But perhaps the most amazing textual emendation found in this haggadah is a blessing which reads: “May the Merciful One let us die for the sake of his faith!” This amazing supplication brings to mind the Islamic ideal of martyrdom, the Istishhad, further evidence of the strong influences of the surrounding majority culture on this small group of Near Eastern Karaite Jews ofr the 14th century.

The Near Eastern rite of these two manuscripts has yet to be the subject of scholarly research.

Sotheby's is grateful to Dr. Shlomo Zucker for providing information that assisted with the cataloging of this lot. Dr. Zucker's complete and extensive reports on both volumes are available (in Hebrew and/or English versions) upon request.