The Karaites, a small Jewish sect that arose twelve centuries ago and still exists today, was at one time the most outspoken and productive schismatic division in Judaism. The Karaites contributed much to the Jewish literature of the Middle Ages, for they developed their own corpus of theological dogmas, liturgy, juristic exegesis, metaphysical concepts, secular poetry, apologetics, and sermons. This anthology--the first of its kind in any language of the West--provides excerpts from the early Karaite literature (down to about the year 1500) representing the full range of their thought and...