Almosnino, Moshe (Moises) ben Baruch

Abstract

A rabbi, political leader, diplomat, physician, scientist, mathematician, philosopher, and biblical exegete, Moses ben Baruch Almosnino was one of the most important Jewish leaders in the post-expulsion period and was the central intellectual figure in sixteenth-century Jewish Salonica. Well versed in rabbinic literature, science, and philosophy, Almosnino was also a prolific writer. All around, he was an exemplary “chacham kolel” (lit., “general erudite,” or “well-rounded scholar”) and a great Jewish Renaissance man.