What do Jews Believe? First of all, "What do Jews believe?" is a difficult question to answer. There's an old joke, that if you ask 2 Jews their opinion on something you will get 3 answers. So the answer we provide here comes from the "Karaite" perspective.

What does "Karaite" mean? It comes from a Hebrew term that means "Scripture." So a Karaite Jew is a Jew who believes that the Torah - the 5 books of Moses - were given to Moses by God. A Karaite Jew also believes in the Writings and the Prophets, all of which form what is commonly called the Tanakh. Christians call it the "Old Testament." This is what Jews have practiced since the beginning. Karaite Jews do not believe that an "Oral Torah" or an oral law was given to Moses, like Rabbinic Jews. They may read the Midrash or the Talmud as the insightful commentary of men, but do not consider it Divine.

The most concise way to explain what Jews who keep the Torah without the later rabbinic additions is to list the Ten Principles of Faith.

These Ten Princiles of Faith were originally written by Yehudah Hadassi in the 12th century. This is a statement of the theology of Karaite Jews, as listed on the website for the Karaite Jews of America.

That the entirety of the physical universe was created and has not forever existed.

That all things have an eternal Creator, Who was not Himself created.

That this Creator has no physical form and is single and unified in every sense.

That this Creator sent Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses our teacher) peace be upon him.

That He gave His perfect Torah to Moshe.

That every believer should know the language and interpretations of the Torah.

That God sent the prophets other than Moshe.

That God will resurrect men in the Day of Judgment.

That God gives to every man each according to his deeds and according to what he earns.

That God has not abandoned the people of the exile to the nations. Rather, Israel's present tribulations are His will. It is fitting for Israel to yearn for its salvation at the hand of the Mashiach from the line of David.

Other Torah Links:

• Mechon Mamre This site contains the Tana"kh (Hebrew Bible), Rambam's Mishneh Torah (his Complete Restatement of the Oral Law), as well as other sources of the Law. It is from the rabbinical perspective, but it has a lot of valuable information. Their "Torah Basics" page serves as the inspiration for this site's format.
• Karaite Jews of America (KJA) Page
• World Alliance of Qara'im (WAQ) Page
• The Karaite Korner Page
• Donate to the KJA
• Donate to the WAQ
• Donate to Mechon Mamre