Moses of Kiev

Who is Moses of Kiev?

Moses of Kiev was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in the first half of the 12th century. Moses seems to have been in western Europe in consequence of the expulsion of the Jews from Kiev in 1124. It is not impossible that he was a pupil of Jacob b. Meïr Tam, whom he seems to have known. From Russia Moses carried on a correspondence with Samuel ben Ali, the head of the Babylonian academy, and through Moses Western scholars learned of an important legal decision of the Geonim which had been communicated to him by Samuel. Another responsum from Samuel to Moses is found in the manuscript Yiḥuse Tanna'im wa-Amora'im, whose author is probably Judah ben Kalonymus of Speyer. Whether or not this Moses is identical with "Rabbi Moses the Russian", whom the author of Sefer ha-Shoham mentions, is doubtful.