Kaplan, Lawrence

Senior Fellow: May 2016–June 2016

Research Project: Rabbi Yehudah Moscato’s Kol Yehudah

Lawrence Kaplan’s contribution will consist of two parts, an essay and an annotated translation. The essay will be an elaboration on and defense of Yehudah Moscato‘s Kol Yehudah, an appraisal of Yehudah ha-Levi‘s treatise Sefer ha-Kuzari. Moscato lists what he views as the four key issues of the Kuzari: the People of Israel, the Land of Israel, the Temple, and the Torah. They are God’s four kinyanim, and "when they are joined together, the world is filled with light, joy, gladness, and honour." Moscato, both in his description of the Kuzari’s five sections and in his commentary proper, seeks to show how these key issues structure all the sections throughout the text. Given the great importance of Moscato’s introduction to Kol Yehudah, the second and major part of the project will be a complete and fully annotated translation of that introduction. This project will complement Giuseppe Veltri’s translation of Moscato’s collection of sermons, Nefutsot Yehudah.

Lawrence Kaplan is associate professor of Rabbinics, Jewish law and philosophy at McGill University Montreal.