Page "Jewish schisms" Paragraph 9

Karaite Judaism is a Jewish denomination characterized by reliance on the Tanakh as the sole source of binding Jewish Law.

Karaites rejected the rabbinic tenet that an Oral Torah ( oral law ) was transmitted to Moses at Mount Sinai along with the written scriptures.

Accordingly, they rejected the central works of Rabbinic Judaism which claimed to expound and interpret this written law, including the Mishnah and the Talmud, as authoritative on questions of Jewish law.

Karaites had a wide following between the 9th and 12th centuries ( they claim that at one time they numbered perhaps 10 percent of Jewry ), but over the centuries their numbers have dwindled drastically.

Today they are a small group, living mostly in Israel ; estimates of the number of Israeli Karaites range from as low as 10, 000 to as high as 40, 000.