Sabbath with an
abundance of light and noisy joy and copious feasts, but they greeted
it with darkness, silence, sadness, and meditation upon the downfall
of the national temple, and the glory and might of the people of
Israel. Then, from the blackest houses, from behind the small dark
windows, there flowed into the quiet without the sound of singing;
the parents were sadly telling their children of the prophets who, on
the shores of the rivers in Babylon, broke their harps and cut their
fingers so that none could force them to sing in captivity, of the
blessed country of Havili, situated somewhere in the south of Arabia,
where the ten tribes of Israel lived in liberty, happiness, and
peace, not knowing quarrels or the use of the sword. They talked of
the holy river, Sabbation, hiding the Israelitic wanderers from the
eyes of their toes. In time, however, lights began to shine in the
windows on Fridays, and then, little by little, they began to talk
and pray aloud. Rabbinits arrived. The worshippers of Talmudistic
authorities, representative of blind faith in oral traditions
gathered and transmitted by Kohens, Tanaits, and Gaons, came and
pushed aside the handful of heretics and wrecks. Under the influence
of the newcomers the community of Karaites began to melt away. The
last blow was struck at it by a man well-known in the history of
Polish Hebrews--Michael Ezofowich, Senior.

He was the first of his name to emerge from obscurity. His family,
settled in Poland for a long time, was one of these which, during the
reign of Jagiellons, under the influence of privileges and laws in
Poland promulgated by a (for that time) high civilisation, was united
by sympathetic ties to the aboriginal population, and Ezofowich was
appointed Senior over all the Hebrew population of Lithuania and
Bialorus, by King Zygmunt the First, by a document which read thus:

"We, Zygmunt, by God's grace, etc., make known to all Jews living on
the estate, our Fatherland, having taken into consideration the
faithful services of the Jew, Michael Ezofowich, and wishing you in
your affairs not to meet with any obstacles and delays, according to
the laws of justice, we constitute, that Michael Ezofowich shall
settle all your affairs for US, and be your superior, and you must
come to US through him, and be obedient to him in everything. He will
judge you and rule over you according to the custom of our law, and
punish the guilty ones by OUR permission,