According to a notice found in a Paris manuscript, he supported himself by giving private instruction; but this is questioned bySteinschneider. A pupil ofMordecai Comtino at Adrianople, Afendopolo attained great proficiency in science, and, while lacking depth and originality of thought, distinguished himself by prolific literary production, based on his large library, that included rare manuscripts, partly bought, partly copied by himself. He continuedAdderet Eliyahu (Elijah's Mantle), a work on Karaite law left unfinished in his charge by his teacher, Bashyatzi, in 1490.
The wife of Bashyatzi, who was Afendopolo's sister, having died before her husband, Afendopolo no longer referred to Bashyatzi as his brother-in-law, but called him teacher. Afendopolo died before completing Bashyatzi's treatise.
Afendopolo's own works give a fair insight into the erudition of the Karaites. Fragments only of many of them have been brought to light byJonah Hayyim Gurland in hisGinze Yisrael (Lyck, 1865), and less exactly byA. Firkovitch. His writings are:
An introductory index toAaron ben Elijah'sEẓ ha-Ḥayyim (1497), giving the contents of each chapter under the title, "Derek Eẓ ha-Ḥayyim," published byDelitzsch in his edition (1840) of this work.
A similar introductory index toJudah Hadassi'sEshkol, under the titleNaḥal Eshkol (Koslov, 1836).
Gan ha-Melek (Garden of the King), his principal work, finished in 1495, adiwan, or collection of poetical essays on love, medicine, and the active intellect.
'Asarah Mamarot (Ten Discourses), containing homilies on thePassover lesson (Ex. xii.14); on theSong of Songs as read on the seventh Passover Day; onPsalm cxix, read, according to Karaite custom, on the sevenSabbaths between Passover andPentecost; and on the Pentecost lesson dealing with theSinaitic revelation. The introductory chapter, much of which is reproduced byMordecai ben Nissim in hisDod Mordecai, dwells on the origin of the Karaite schism and the main questions at issue between the Karaites and the Rabbinites (see especially Steinschneider,Leyden Catalogue, pp. 127 et seq.). Afendopolo's view ofJesus given therein is remarkable for its impartial tone. He places Jesus, it is true, a century before theCommon Era, but adds: "He was, according to the opinion of the lovers of truth, a wise man, pious, righteous, God-fearing, and shunning evil. Neither did he ever teach any law or practice contrary to the written law. Only after his death, a quarrel arose between his followers and those who had opposed him because of his wisdom, which was rooted in the law and not in their rabbinical additions; and many of these disciples of his, sent forth in his name, introduced practices and teachings altogether foreign to him, removing thereby the corner-stone of the Law, though winning the multitudes. Thus theNew Testament originated, which separated the Christians from the Jews."
Abner ben Ner (1488), a series of Hebrewmakamas, or short, rhymed narratives, introducingSaul,David, and thequeen of Sheba into the dialogue.
Under the same title, an allegory on theSong of Songs, the same being applied to the relation of God to Israel.
Iggeret ha-Sheḥiṭah (1497), a work on the rites used in slaughtering animals, in the form of letters addressed to his son-in-law,Jacob ben Judah; the same in condensed form written atKramaria near Constantinople (1497).
Seder 'Inyan Sheḥiṭah, a similar work in rhyme, is extant in manuscript (Firkovitch's MS. No. 569).
On the use ofarrack (in which the passageDeut. xxxii.38 is applied to theMoslems, and the Christian sacrifice is alluded to; see Steinschneider,Leyden Catalogue, p. 233;Polemische Literatur, p. 374).
Iggeret ha-Kimah (Letter on thePleiades), treating of forbidden marriages, and directed against Joshua's work on the subject.
Patshegen Ketab ha-Dat (1496), on thePentateuch lessons and theHafṭarot and other Bible selections.
A rejoinder toMaimonides in defense of the Karaite calculation of the seven weeks (Steinschneider,Hebr. Bibl. vii.11).
A commentary on the Hebrew translation of the arithmetic ofNicomachus of Gerasa (first or second century), made from the Arabic byKalonymus ben Kalonymus in 1317. The manuscript is in the Berlin Royal Library (Steinschneider, inMonatsschrift, xxxviii.76). Afendopolo has attached to this commentary a sort of general encyclopedia of the sciences. He commences with an analysis of the eight books ofAristotle'sLogic. Practical science, as he calls it, deals with man himself, with the house (family), and the state. Speculative science comprises physics, geometry, and metaphysics. In the same manner he runs through the other sciences, giving their various subdivisions. The highest science is theology, which treats of the soul, of prophecy, and ofeschatology. The course of instruction which Afendopolo lays down follows that ofPlato; namely, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, the science of aspects, metrology, physics, and metaphysics. After discussing future bliss, he deals with two other sciences—law, especially as regards the relation of faith to works, and controversy (Ḥokmat ha-Debarim). In the latter he cites freely fromBatalyusi, without, however, giving his authority (Steinschneider, inMonatsschrift, xl.90 et seq.).
An astronomical treatise, largely made up of a commentary on the portion of Elijah'sGan Eden (Neubauer,Catalogue, No. 2054), under the titleMiklal Yofi.
Iggeret ha-Maspeḳet, a work on astronomical terminology, and on the construction ofsundials, improving upon the method of his teacher, Comtino, by adding the odd hours (Gurland,Ginze Yisrael, iii.18, 19).
Tiḳḳun Keli Rob ha-Sha'ot (1487), which was known also toJoseph del Medigo.
Afendopolo also wrote some penitential hymns which are to be found in the KaraiteMaḥzor (Neubauer,Catalogue, No. 2369, 3;Zunz,G. V., p. 425; idem, 2nd ed., p. 440); but most of these hymns were taken from Rabbinite poets (seeDavid Kahana inOẓar ha-Sifrut, vol. v, Cracow, 1896). Afendopolo had intended to translate theElements of Euclid, and to write commentaries onJabir ibn Aflaḥ'sKitab al-Ḥiyyah (Compendium on Astronomy) and onPtolemy'sAlmagest.
Adolf Neubauer.Aus der Petersburger Bibliothek: Beiträge und Documente zur Geschichte des Karäerthums und der karäischen Literatur. Oskar Leiner, 1866. chap. i;
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901)."Afendopolo, Caleb b. Elijah b. Judah".The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. pp. 222–223.