ABSTRACT
AARON ben-Elijah? 1328-69. Karaite scholar. Aaron lived for a time in Nico-media, in Asia Minor. His fame rests on his trilogy, consisting of Ez haChaim (‘Tree of Life’), dealing with the philosophy of religion; Gan Eden (‘Garden of Eden’), dealing with Karaite law; and Keter Torah (‘Crown of the Law’), a commentary on the Bible. ‘Tree of Life’ seems to be a conscious imitation of MAIMONIDES’ Guide of the Perplexed, though meant to be a counterweight to it. Aaron was successful in restoring some prestige to Karaism, the movement that accepted the Scriptures as the sole source of authority and rejected the Oral Rabbinic Law. He died of plague in 1369, probably in Constantinople, where he had settled.
