 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Abraham Firkovich" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Abraham Firkovich | |
|---|---|
 Picture of Abraham Firkovich | |
| Born | (1786-09-27)September 27, 1786 Łuck,Poland |
| Died | June 7, 1874(1874-06-07) (aged 87) Çufut Qale, Crimea |
| Occupations | Writer and archeologist |
Abraham (Avraham) ben Samuel Firkovich (Hebrewאברהם בן שמואל -Avraham ben Shmuel;Karayce: Аврагъам Фиркович -Avragham Firkovich) (Sept. 27, 1786–June 7, 1874) was aKaraite writer and archaeologist, collector of ancient manuscripts, and a KaraiteHakham. He was born inLutsk,Volhynia and died inÇufut Qale,Crimea. Gabriel Firkovich of Troki was his son-in-law.
Abraham Firkovich was born in 1787 into aCrimean Karaite farming family inLutsk, then part ofPoland, now Ukraine. In 1818 he was serving the local Crimean Karaite communities as a juniorhazzan, or religious leader, and he went in 1822 to the city ofYevpatoria inCrimea.[1] The Karaite community there appointed him hazzan in 1825.[2] Together with the Karaite nobleSimha Babovich, he sent memoranda to theczar, with proposals to relieve Karaites from the heavy taxes imposed on the Jewish community. In 1828 he moved toBerdichev, where he met manyHasids and learned more about their interpretations of Jewish scriptures based on the Talmud and rabbinic tradition. The encounter with Rabbinical Jews brought Firkovich into conflict with them. He published a book,Massah and Meribah[3] which argued against the predominant Jewishhalakha of the Rabbinites.[4] In 1830 he visited Jerusalem, where he collected many Jewish manuscripts. On his return he remained for two years inConstantinople as a teacher in the Karaite community. He then went to Crimea and organized a society to publish old Karaite works, of which several appeared inYevpatoria (Koslov) with his commentary. In 1838, he tutored the children ofSima Babovich, head of the Crimean Karaites, who a year later recommended him toCount Vorontzov and to the Historical Society ofOdessa as a suitable man to send to collect material on the history of Crimean Karaites. In 1839, Firkovich began excavations in the ancient cemetery ofÇufut Qale, and unearthed many old tombstones, claiming that some of them dated from the first centuries of the common era. The following two years were spent in travels through theCaucasus, where he ransacked thegenizots of old Jewish communities and collected many valuable manuscripts. He travelled as far asDerbent, and returned in 1842. In later years he made other journeys of the same nature, visiting Egypt and other countries. InOdessa he became the friend ofBezalel Stern and ofSimchah Pinsker. While inVilnius, he made the acquaintance ofSamuel Joseph Fuenn and other Hebrew scholars. In 1871, he visited the small Karaite community inHalych,Galicia, where he introduced several reforms. From there he went to Vienna, where he was introduced toCount Beust and also made the acquaintance ofAdolph Jellinek. He returned to spend his last days in Çufut Qale, of which only a few buildings and many ruins now remain. However, Firkovich's house is still preserved at the site.
Firkovich collected a vast number of Hebrew, Arabic and Samaritan manuscripts during his many travels in his search for evidence on the traditions of his people. These included thousands of Jewish documents from throughout theRussian Empire in what became known as the First Firkovich Collection. His Second Collection contains material collected from the Near East. His visit took place about thirty years beforeSolomon Schechter's more famous trip to Egypt. This "Second Firkovich Collection" contains 13,700 items and is of incredible value.[5][better source needed]
As a result of his research he became focused on the origin of the ancestors of theCrimean Karaites who he claimed had arrived in Crimea before the common era. The Karaites, therefore, could not be seen as culpable for thecrucifixion of Jesus because they had settled in Crimea at such an early date. His theories persuaded the Russian imperial court thatCrimean Karaites could not be accused of Jesus' crucifixion and they were excluded from the restrictive measures against Jews. Many of his findings were disputed immediately after his death, and despite their important value there is still controversy over many of the documents he collected.[6]
The Russian National Library purchased the Second Firkovich Collection in 1876, a little more than a year after Firkovich's death.
Among the treasures in the Firkovich collection is a manuscript of theGarden of Metaphors, an aesthetic appreciation of Biblical literature written inJudeo-Arabic by one of the greatest of theSephardi poets,Moses ibn Ezra.
Firkovich's life and works are of great importance to Karaite history and literature. His collections at the Russian National Library are important to biblical scholars and to historians, especially those of the Karaite andSamaritan communities. Controversy continues regarding his alleged discoveries and the reliability of his works.
Firkovich's chief work is his "Abne Zikkaron," containing the texts of inscriptions discovered by him (Wilna, 1872). It is preceded by a lengthy account of his travels toDaghestan, characterized by Strack as a mixture of truth and fiction. His other works are "Ḥotam Toknit," antirabbinical polemics, appended to his edition of the "Mibḥar Yesharim" by Aaron the elder (Koslov, 1835); "Ebel Kabod," on the death of his wife and of his son Jacob (Odessa, 1866); and "Bene Reshef", essays and poems, published byPeretz Smolenskin (Vienna, 1871).
Abraham Firkovich collected several distinct collections of documents. In sum the Firkovich collection contains approximately 15,000 items, of which many are fragmentary.[7] His collections represent 'by far the greatest repository of all Judaeo-Arabic manuscripts' and are today held in theNational Library of Russia inSt Petersburg, while microfilm reproductions of all the manuscripts are held in theInstitute of Microfilmed Hebrew manuscripts at theJewish National and University Library, Jerusalem.[8]
This collection contains material from the Crimea and the Caucasus. It was largely collected between 1839 and 1840, but with additions from Firkovich as late as 1852.[9] It was originally owned by the Odessa Society of History and Antiquities and was stored in the Odessa museum.[10][9]Some of these documents deteriorated due to chemical treatment performed by Firkovich. Other documents which were suspected forgeries disappeared; Firkovich claimed they had been stolen.[10] The collection was moved to the Imperial Public Library in 1863.[9]
In 1844 the Russian historianArist Kunik [de], a leading anti-Normanist, and Bezalel Stern, an influential RussianMaskil, would study and partly describe the discovery.[10][11]
Briefly stated, the discoveries include the major part of the manuscripts described in Pinner's "Prospectus der Odessaer Gesellschaft für Geschichte und Alterthum Gehörenden Aeltesten Hebräischen und Rabbinischen Manuscripte" (Odessa, 1845), a rather rare work which is briefly described in "Literaturblatt des Orients" for 1847, No. 2. These manuscripts consist of:
Contains material from the Crimea and the Caucasus largely collected between 1839 and 1841. It was purchased by the Imperial Public Library in 1862.[12][9]
Another collection of 317 Samaritan manuscripts, acquired in Nablus, arrived in the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy in 1867 (see Fürst, "Geschichte des Karäerthums", iii. pp. 176, Leipsic, 1869)
In 1864 Firkovich acquired a large collection of Samaritan documents in Nablus. He sold the documents to the Imperial Public Library in 1870. In sum the collection contains 1,350 items.[13]
Contains material collected from the Near East. The material was collected between 1863 and 1865. Firkovich collected in Jerusalem, Aleppo and also in Cairo.[12] Firkovich concealed where he obtained the documents.[14] He possibly collected from theCairo Geniza thirty years beforeSolomon Schechter discovered it.[15] Firkovich sold this collection to the Imperial Public Library in 1873.[12]
Firkovich has come to be regarded as a forger, acting in support of Karaite causes.[16] He wished to repudiate any connection between Rabbinic Judaism and the Karaites, declaring that the Karaites were descendants of theTen Lost Tribes.[17] Firkovich successfully petitioned the Russian government to exempt the Karaites from anti-Jewish laws on the grounds that Karaites had immigrated to Europe before the crucifixion of Jesus and thus could not be held responsible for his death.[18]
S. L. Rapoport pointed out some impossibilities in the inscriptions (Ha-Meliẓ, 1861, Nos. 13–15, 37);A. Geiger in hisJüdische Zeitschrift (1865, p. 166), Schorr inHe-Ḥaluẓ, andA. Neubauer in theJournal Asiatique (1862–63) and in hisAus der Petersburger Bibliothek (Leipzig, 1866) challenged the correctness of the facts and the theories based upon them which Jost,Julius Fürst, andHeinrich Grätz, in their writings on the Karaites, took from Pinsker'sLiḳḳuṭe Ḳadmoniyyot, in which the data furnished by Firkovich were unhesitatingly accepted. Further exposures were made by Strack andHarkavy (St. Petersburg, 1875) in theCatalog der Hebr. Bibelhandschriften der Kaiserlichen Oeffentlichen Bibliothek in St. Petersburg; in Harkavy'sAltjüdische Denkmäler aus der Krim (ib. 1876); in Strack'sA. Firkowitsch und Seine Entdeckungen (Leipsic, 1876); in Fränkel'sAḥare Reshet le-Baḳḳer (Ha-Shaḥar, vii.646 et seq.); inDeinard'sMassa' Ḳrim (Warsaw, 1878); and in other places.
In contradiction, Firkovich's most sympathetic critic, Chwolson, gives as a résumé of his belief, after considering all controversies, that Firkovich succeeded in demonstrating that some of the Jewish tombstones fromChufut-Kale date back to the seventh century, and that seemingly modern forms of eulogy and the method of counting after the era of creation were in vogue among Jews much earlier than had been hitherto suspected. Chwolson alone defended him, but he also was forced to admit that in some cases Firkovich had resorted to forgery. In hisCorpus Inscriptionum Hebraicarum (St. Petersburg, 1882; Russian ed., ib. 1884) Chwolson attempts to prove that the Firkovich collection, especially the epitaphs from tombstones, contains much which is genuine.
In 1980, V. V. Lebedev investigated the Firkovich collection and came to the conclusion that forgery cannot be attributed to Firkovich, but rather to the previous owners, in an attempt to increase the price of the manuscripts.[19]
For many years the manuscripts were not available to Western scholars. The extent of Firkovich's forgeries is still being determined.[20] Firkovich's materials require careful examination on a case-by-case basis. His collection remains of great value to scholars of Jewish studies.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Joseph Jacobs; Peter Wiernik (1901–1906)."FIRKOVICH, ABRAHAM B. SAMUEL (Aben ReSheF)". InSinger, Isidore; et al. (eds.).The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
