Karaite Judaism in the context of "History of the Jews in Turkey"

A religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name and tradition, among other activities.The term refers to the various Christian denominations (for example, non-Chalcedonian, Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, and the branches of Protestantism, such as Lutheranism). It is also used to describe the five major branches of Judaism (Karaite Judaism, Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist). Within Islam, it can refer to the branches or sects (such as Sunni and Shia), as well as their various subdivisions, such as sub-sects, schools of jurisprudence, schools of theology and religious movements.

The world's largest religious denomination is the Sunni Islam.

Religious Jews are Jews who practice and observe Judaism. They may be affiliated with:

• Karaite Judaism
• Conservative Judaism
• Masorti Judaism
• Orthodox Judaism
  • Hasidic Judaism
  • Religious Zionism
  • Haredi Judaism
  • Modern Orthodox Judaism
• Reconstructionist Judaism
• Reform Judaism
• Jewish Renewal
• Non-Ashkenazi branches, such as Sephardic Judaism

The Masoretes (Hebrew: בַּעֲלֵי הַמָּסוֹרָה, romanized: Baʿălēy Hammāsōrā, lit. 'Masters of the Tradition') were groups of Jewish scribe-scholars who worked from around the end of the 5th through 10th centuries AD, based primarily in the Jewish centers of the Levant (e.g., Tiberias and Jerusalem) and Mesopotamia (e.g., Sura and Nehardea). Each group compiled a system of pronunciation and grammatical guides in the form of diacritical notes (niqqud) on the external form of the biblical text in an attempt to standardize the pronunciation, paragraph and verse divisions, and cantillation of the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh) for the worldwide Jewish community.

The ben Asher family of Masoretes was largely responsible for the preservation and production of the Masoretic Text, although there existed an alternative Masoretic text of the ben Naphtali Masoretes, which has around 875 differences from the ben Asher text. The halakhic authority Maimonides endorsed the ben Asher as superior, although the Egyptian Jewish scholar, the Saadya Gaon, had preferred the ben Naphtali system. It has been suggested that the ben Asher family and the majority of the Masoretes were Karaites. However, Geoffrey Khan believes that the ben Asher family was probably not Karaite, and Aron Dotan avers that there are "decisive proofs that M. Ben-Asher was not a Karaite."

"Who is a Jew?" (Hebrew: מיהו יהודי, romanized: mihu yehudi, pronounced [ˈmi(h)u je(h)uˈdi]), is a basic question about Jewish identity and considerations of Jewish self-identification. The question pertains to ideas about Jewish personhood, which have cultural, ethnic, religious, political, genealogical, and personal dimensions. Orthodox Judaism and Conservative Judaism follow Jewish law (halakha), deeming people to be Jewish if their mothers are Jewish or if they underwent a halakhic conversion. Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism accept both matrilineal and patrilineal descent as well as conversion. Karaite Judaism predominantly follows patrilineal descent as well as conversion.

Jewish identity is also commonly defined through ethnicity. Opinion polls have suggested that the majority of modern Jews see being Jewish as predominantly a matter of ancestry and culture, rather than religion.

Jewish identity is the objective or subjective sense of perceiving oneself as a Jew and as relating to being Jewish. It encompasses elements of nationhood, ethnicity, religion, and culture. Broadly defined, Jewish identity does not rely on whether one is recognized as Jewish by others or by external religious, legal, or sociological standards. Jewish identity does not need to imply religious orthodoxy. Accordingly, Jewish identity can be ethnic or cultural in nature. Jewish identity can involve ties to the Jewish community.

Conservative and Orthodox Judaism base Jewishness on matrilineal descent. According to Jewish law (halakha), all those born of a Jewish mother are considered Jewish, regardless of personal beliefs or level of observance of Jewish law. Progressive Judaism and Haymanot Judaism in general base Jewishness on having at least one Jewish parent, while Karaite Judaism bases Jewishness only on paternal lineage. While these differences between the major Jewish streams are a source of the disagreement and debate about who is a Jew, all interpretations of Rabbinic Judaism agree that a valid Jewish identity may also be achieved via conversion.

Saʿadia ben Yosef Gaon or Said bin Yusuf al-Fayyumi (892–942) was a prominent rabbi, gaon, Jewish philosopher, and exegete who was active in the Abbasid Caliphate.

Saadia is the first important rabbinic figure to write extensively in Judeo-Arabic. Known for his works on Hebrew linguistics, Halakha, and Jewish philosophy, he was a student of the philosophical school known as "Jewish Kalam". In this capacity, his philosophical work entitled The Book of Beliefs and Opinions represents the first systematic attempt to integrate Jewish theology with components of ancient Greek philosophy. Saadia was also very active in opposition to Karaite Judaism in defense of Rabbinic Judaism.

Sefer ha-Qabbalah (Hebrew: ספר הקבלה, lit. 'The Book of Tradition') was written by Abraham ibn Daud around 1160–1161. It is a survey of Jewish and general history which creates a comprehensive Jewish history narrative.

The book is a response to Karaite attacks against the historical legitimacy of Rabbinic Judaism and contains, among other items, the controversial tale of the kidnapping by pirates of four great rabbinic scholars from Babylonian academies, whose subsequent ransoming by Jewish communities around the Mediterranean accounts for the transmission of scholarly legitimacy to the rabbis of Jewish centers in North Africa and Christian Spain.