Abraham Kirimi (; born 1358 in Solhat) was a 14th-century

Crimean Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Biography

According to Firkovich ("''C. I. H.''" No. 50), Kirimi was a

proselyte The biblical term "proselyte" is an anglicization of the Koine Greek term προσήλυτος (''proselytos''), as used in the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) for "stranger", i.e. a "newcomer to Israel"; a "sojourner in the land", and in the G ...

and a

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...

of Aaron ben Joseph the Karaite. He derived his name from his native town of Qırım or Solhat (today's Stary Krym), in Crimea. Kirimi was the author of ''Sefat Emet'' (not to be confused with the book of the same name by Rabbi Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (1847-1905) of

Gora Kalwaria Gora may refer to: *Gora (surname) *'' Gora'', a Bengali novel by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore * Gora (musical instrument) *''G.O.R.A.'', a 2004 Turkish comedy film *Goparaju Ramachandra Rao ("Gora", 1902–1975), Indian social reformer and ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

), a commentary on the

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the sa ...

, in which he tries to refute the interpretations of the Karaites when they are in contradiction to those of the

Rabbinite Rabbinic Judaism ( he, יהדות רבנית, Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, or Judaism espoused by the Rabbanites, has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian ...

s. Kirimi says in the preface that he wrote the work at the request of many notable Jews and especially of his Karaite pupil Hezekiah b. Elhanan ha-Nasi, whom he held in high esteem. A part of the

preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a '' foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface often closes ...

is in verse, the last two lines of which may be translated:

Moritz Steinschneider Moritz Steinschneider (30 March 1816, Prostějov, Moravia, Austrian Empire – 24 January 1907, Berlin) was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist. He received his early instruction in Hebrew from his father, Jacob Steinschneider ( 1782; ...

and Samuel Joseph Fuenn consider this date to be that of the composition of the work; but it seems rather to be that of the author's birth.

Bibliography of the Jewish Encyclopedia

* 15th-century converts to Judaism Karaite rabbis Medieval Crimea 1358 births 15th-century deaths Crimean Karaites {{Europe-rabbi-stub