Mordechai ben Nisan

The Karaite scholar Mordechai ben Nisan lived in Kukizav, near Lvov, Poland. He studied under both rabbinic and Karaite tutors, becoming proficient in both literatures. He is best known for his work Dod Mordekhay, which he wrote in response to four questions about Karaism posed by Jacob Trigland (1652–1705), a professor at the University of Leiden. This work, in twelve chapters—each titled after one of twelve tribes—defends the antiquity of the Karaite religion, dating it to the Second Temple period and differentiating it from the Saduccees. In addition, it provides a history of Karaite literature. Some hymns composed by Mordechai ben Nisan were included in the Karaite hymn book.