What is a Karaite?
A Jew who answers to the written Tanakh as the authority, not to rabbinic oral tradition added on top. The early counsel: search Scripture well and do not rely on any teacher.
A Karaite is a Jew who treats the written Scriptures as the final authority and does not consider the later rabbinic oral traditions binding. The name comes from Bnei Mikra, which means people of the Scripture.
The heart of it is an instinct you will see all over this site: answer to the text directly, not to a system built on top of it. Fittingly, the movement's own early teacher, Anan ben David, is remembered for saying, in effect, search the Scripture well for yourself and do not just rely on my opinion. That is the spirit of the whole thing. Check everything against the text, including your teachers.
Related Passages
Deuteronomy 4:2, Deuteronomy 12:32, Isaiah 8:20, Joshua 1:8, Psalm 119:105, Acts 17:11, Proverbs 30:6
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