What is "subbotniks"

The Subbotniks ( "Sabbatarians") is a common name for Christian sects of Judaizers originating in Russia who split from other Sabbatarians in the 19th century. There are three main groups of people described as Subbotniks:

• Judaizing Talmudists: Subbotnik converts to Rabbinic Judaism, also described as "Gery" , "Talmudisty" , or "Shaposhniki".
• Karaite Subbotniks : also described as "Russian Karaites" or Karaimits ., considering themselves as adherents of Karaite Judaism. However, it has been reported that they do not practice circumcision.
• Subbotnik Molokans sect: in contradiction to the previous Subbotnik sects they recognize the Gospel, but believe that it is necessary to fulfill exactly all the rules and precepts of the Old Testament.

A 1912 religious census in Russia recorded 12,305 "Judaizing Talmudists", and 4,092 "Russian Karaites", and 8,412 Subbotniks who "had fallen away from Orthodoxy".

On the whole, the Subbotniks probably differed little from other Judaizing societies in their early years. They first appeared toward the end of the 18th century during the reign of Catherine the Great. According to official reports of the Russian Empire, most of the sect's followers circumcised their boys, believed in a unitary God rather than in the Christian Trinity, accepted only the Hebrew Bible and observed the Sabbath on Saturday rather than on Sunday as in Christian practice (and hence were called "sabbatarians") There were variations among their beliefs in relation to Jesus, the Second Coming, and other elements of Eastern Orthodox doctrine.

Prior to the First Partition of Poland in 1772, few Jews had settled in the Russian Empire. The Subbotniks were originally Christian peasants of the Russian Orthodox Church. During the reign of Catherine the Great (1729-1796), they adopted elements of Mosaic law of the Old Testament and were known as sabbatarians, part of the Spiritual Christianity movement.

Subbotnik communities were among the earliest to adopt Zionism; a significant number settled in Ottoman Palestine in the 1880s as part of the First Aliyah in order to escape oppression in the Russian Empire. Their descendants included Israeli Jews such as Alexander Zaïd, Rafael Eitan and Major-General Alik Ron.