Levi ben Yefet

Active in Jerusalem, Levi ben Yefet was the youngest son of one of the greatest Karaite exegetes, the tenth-century Yefet ben Eli ha-Levi al-Baṣrī. Levi’s first work appears to be his The Book of Blessing, a theological treatise informed by contemporary Islamic kalām (rationalist theology) that was aimed at educated laymen, not scholars. Levi’s most lasting work, however, was his Book of the Commandments, completed in 1006/7. Written in Arabic, it was quickly translated into Hebrew, and later Karaites, especially in Byzantium, held it in high regard. Levi was the teacher of Yeshu‘a ben Judah, a leading Karaite in the late eleventh century.