MOSES BEN JACOB OF RUSSIA

(1449-1520)

   Ukrainian talmudic scholar. He was born in Seduva, Lithuania. He lived in Kiev, where he pursued his studies as a biblical exegete, talmudist, poet, linguist and kabbalist. When the Tartars attacked the city in 1482 he escaped, but his children were taken captive to the Crimea; after ransoming them, he returned to Kiev. In 1495 the Jews of Lithuania and the Ukraine were expelled, and he was forced to wander. In 1506 he was himself taken captive by the Tartars and was ransomed by the Jews of Salkhat. He then settled in Kaffa, where he became rabbi and head of the community. His writings include a liturgy according to the Crimean rite.