15 Facts About Subbotniks

1.

Subbotniks is a common name for adherents of Russian religious movements that split from Sabbatarian sects in the late 18th century.

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2.

The majority of Subbotniks were converts to Rabbinic or Karaite Judaism from Christianity.

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3.

The Subbotniks were originally Christian peasants of the Russian Orthodox Church.

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4.

Subbotniks, meaning sabbatarians for their observance of the Sabbath on Saturday, as in the Hebrew Bible, rather than on Sunday, arose as part of the Spiritual Christian movement in the 18th century.

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5.

Imperial Russian officials and Orthodox clergy considered the Subbotniks to be heretical to Russian Orthodox religion, and tried to suppress their sects and other Judaizers.

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6.

The Subbotniks concealed their religious beliefs and rites from Orthodox Christians.

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7.

Subbotniks observed the Sabbath on Saturday, and were known as sabbatarians.

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8.

Up to 1820 the Subbotniks lived for the most part in the governments of Voronezh, Oryol, Moscow, Tula, and Saratov.

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9.

The Subbotniks came to an agreement with the Russian Orthodox priests and succeeded in gaining a measure of peace for a period.

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10.

Some Subbotniks had immigrated to Ottoman Palestine even prior to the First Aliyah.

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11.

Subbotniks faced hurdles when intermarrying into the wider Jewish population, as they were not considered Jews according to halakha.

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12.

Tora-centered Bnei Moshe movement ties with the Subbotniks and formed the majority of the port Jaffa's population.

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13.

Since that period, Subbotniks remaining in Russia have encountered status-related problems.

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14.

In 2004, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel Shlomo Amar ruled the Subbotniks were not defined as Jewish and would have to undergo an Orthodox conversion.

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15.

Apart from their religious rites, the Subbotniks were generally indistinguishable from Russian Orthodox or secular Russians in terms of dress and lifestyle.

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