Subbotniks

For other uses, see Subbotnik (disambiguation).

Graph showing the location of Subbotnik populations in Russia in the early 19th century

Subbotniks (Russian: Субботники, IPA: [sʊˈbotnʲɪkʲɪ], "Sabbatarians") is a common name for adherents of Russian religious movements that split from Sabbatarian sects in the late 18th century.[1][2]

The majority of Subbotniks were converts to Rabbinic or Karaite Judaism from Christianity. Other groups included Judaizing Christians and Spiritual Christians.[3][4]

There are three main groups of people described as Subbotniks:

  • Judaizing Talmudists: Subbotnik converts to Rabbinic Judaism, also described as "Gery" (Russian: Геры), "Talmudisty" (Russian: Субботники-Талмудисты), or "Shaposhniki".[1][4]
  • Karaimites[5][6] or Karaite Subbotniks[1] (Russian: Субботники-Караимиты): also described as "Russian Karaites" (Russian: Русские Караимы),[7] considering themselves as adherents of Karaite Judaism.[8] They recognize only the scriptural authority of the Torah and reject the Talmud;[9] however, it has been reported that they do not practice circumcision.[9][10][4]
  • Subbotnik Molokans (Russian: Молокане-субботники): in contrast to the other Subbotnik sects, they recognize the Gospel, but also practice some of the rules and precepts of the Old Testament.[11]

A 1912 religious census in Russia recorded 12,305 "Judaizing Talmudists", and 4,092 "Russian Karaites", and 8,412 Subbotniks who "had fallen away from Orthodoxy".[4]

On the whole, the Subbotniks probably differed little from other Judaizing societies in their early years.[12] They first appeared toward the end of the 18th century during the reign of Catherine the Great. According to official reports of the Russian Empire, most[citation needed] of the sect's followers circumcised their boys, believed in a unitary God rather than in the Christian Trinity, accepted only the Hebrew Bible, and observed the Sabbath on Saturday rather than on Sunday as in Christian practice (and hence were called "sabbatarians"). There were variations among their beliefs in relation to Jesus, the Second Coming, and other elements of Eastern Orthodox doctrine.

Prior to the First Partition of Poland in 1772, few Jews had settled in the Russian Empire.[4] The Subbotniks were originally Christian peasants of the Russian Orthodox Church. During the reign of Catherine the Great (1729–1796), they adopted elements of Mosaic Law from the Old Testament and were known as "Sabbatarians", part of the Spiritual Christianity movement.[4]

Subbotnik families settled in the Holy Land at the time part of the Ottoman Empire, in the 1880s, as part of the Zionist First Aliyah in order to escape oppression in the Russian Empire and later mostly intermarried with Jews. Examples of Israeli Jews descended from Subbotniks include Alexander Zaïd, Major-General Alik Ron, and former Israeli foreign, prime minister, and general Ariel Sharon.[13][14]

  1. ^ a b c Chernin, Velvl (2007). "The Subbotniks". Rappaport Center for Assimilation Research and Strengthening Jewish Vitality.
  2. ^ Khanin, Ze’ev; Chernin, Velvl. "Identity, Assimilation and Revival: Ethnosocial Processes among the Jewish Population of the Former Soviet Union".
  3. ^  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rosenthal, Herman; Hurwitz, S (1901–1906). "Subbotniki ("Sabbatarians")". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b c d e f Dynner, Glenn (2011). Holy Dissent: Jewish and Christian Mystics in Eastern Europe. Wayne State University Press. pp. 358–359. ISBN 9780814335970. There were very few Jews in the Russian empire before 1772 and there is no indication of direct contact between Jews and the early Spiritual Christians... Most dramatically, in the late eighteenth century, the so called Subbotniks or Sabbatarians – ethnic Russians from the central and southern provinces – even turned away from the fundamental Christian doctrines of the Incarnation and the messiahship of Jesus to embrace the Mosaic law of the Old Testament. As the work of Aleksandr Lvov, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Panchenko, Sergey Shtyrkov, and Nicholas Breyfogle demonstrate, these Russian sabbatarians developed strong communities that survived the severe persecution of both the imperial and Soviet governments. Although the Subbotniks did not, as a rule, follow the Talmud, some of them began follow other practices of different Jewish communities, both talmudic and non-talmudic, even as they retained their separate ethnic identity. In the religious census of 1912, the Department of Spiritual Affairs of the Interior Ministry noted the presence of 8,412 Subbotniks who had fallen away from Orthodoxy, 12,305 Judaizing Talmudists, and 4,092 Russian Karaites.
  5. ^ "Bulgakov". Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  6. ^ H. Gray (2013). "8. 'Recrudescent forms' subsection C 'Karaimites'". Judaizing. Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics. Vol. 7. p. 612. (c) Karaimites or Karimit ("Karaitizers'), who, like the Karaites q.v. recognize only the Pentateuch and reject the Talmud, but who do not observe all the Pentateuchal laws, e.g. that regarding circumcision
  7. ^ "Overview of Russian sects and persuasions" by T.J. Boutkevitch pages 382–384
  8. ^ "www.karaimskajazizn.estranky.cz – 7. Из архива караимского духовного правления". www.karaimskajazizn.estranky.cz. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  9. ^ a b Gray, Louis Herbert (1914). "Judaizing". In Hastings, James (ed.). Encyclopædia of Religion and Ethics. Vol. 7. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. p. 612. Retrieved 7 June 2020 – via Internet Archive.
  10. ^ S.V. Bulgakov "Handbook of heresies, sects and schisms" under Караимиты
  11. ^ Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary Жидовствующие:
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference berdyaev was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "Dr. Ruchama Weiss ▪ Rabbi Levi Brackman, "Russia's Subbotnik Jews get rabbi"". Ynetnews. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  14. ^ Eichner, Itamar (11 March 2014). "Subbotnik Jews to resume aliyah". Israel Jewish Scene. Archived from the original on 9 April 2014. Retrieved 9 April 2014.