[malakhi]

So the Karaites are kind of like the Protestants of Judaism?

That's a good way of putting it, yes. The estimates I've read is that they presently number about 30,000 worldwide. So it is a pretty small movement, although they do have a presence in Israel, and a center in San Francisco. I am not an orthodox Jew, and I do find some of their critiques of certain rabbinic teachings intriguing. But I don't agree with them on everything.

Unless I am misunderstanding it, in the Karaite calendar, there would be aas many as 11 days per year between the end of Adar and beginning of Abib that would never be counted or have a date assigned to them. Hopefully during that time nothing dateworthy ever happened.

I believe you are right. History did move at a slower pace back then!

[Woodkirk]

Coming from a Catholic background, as I do, have you ever noticed the connection between the Pharisaical elevation of Oral Tradition to the level of the Torah and the Roman Catholic elevation of the "Tradition" of the Church Fathers [the writings of Origen, Clement, Augustine, etc] to the level of the Gospels and Epistles?

Also didn't the Pharisees practice a ritual of the washing of the fingers, which is also a part of the Catholic Mass?