''Kol Bo'' (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: כל-בו, "all is in it") is a collection of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

ritual and civil laws. Its author has not yet been ascertained. The work in content resembles other codes, as, for instance, the ''Orḥot Ḥayyim'', though in its form it is very different.

Its contents and peculiarities

The ''Kol Bo'' does not pretend to any order; the laws that were later arranged in

Orach Hayyim Orach Chayim, (''manner/way of life'') is a section of Rabbi Jacob ben Asher's compilation of Halakha (Jewish law), Arba'ah Turim. This section addresses aspects of Jewish law pertinent to the Hebrew calendar (be it the daily, weekly, monthly, or ...

are found together with those that were later arranged in ''Yoreh De'ah'' and ''Even haEzer''. Likewise, many laws are entirely missing in the ''Kol Bo''. It is peculiar also in that some of the laws are briefly stated, while others are stated at great length, without division into paragraphs. After the regular code, terminating with the laws of

mourning Mourning is the expression of an experience that is the consequence of an event in life involving loss, causing grief, occurring as a result of someone's death, specifically someone who was loved although loss from death is not exclusively ...

(No. 115), there comes a miscellaneous collection, containing the "takkanot" of R. Gershom and of

Rabbeinu Tam Jacob ben Meir (1100 – 9 June 1171 (4 Tammuz)), best known as Rabbeinu Tam ( he, רבינו תם), was one of the most renowned Ashkenazi Jewish rabbis and leading French Tosafists, a leading ''halakhic'' authority in his generation, and a gr ...

, the ''Ma'aseh Torah'' of

Judah haNasi Judah ha-Nasi ( he, יְהוּדָה הַנָּשִׂיא‎, ''Yəhūḏā hanNāsīʾ‎''; Yehudah HaNasi or Judah the Prince) or Judah I, was a second-century rabbi (a tanna of the fifth generation) and chief redactor and editor of the ''Mis ...

, the legend of

Solomon Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...

's throne, the legend of

Joshua b. Levi Joshua ben Levi (Yehoshua ben Levi) was an Amoraim, amora, a scholar of the Talmud, who lived in the Land of Israel in the first half of the third century. He lived and taught in the city of Lod. He was an elder contemporary of Johanan ben Napp ...

, a kabbalistic dissertation on

brit milah The ''brit milah'' ( he, בְּרִית מִילָה ''bərīṯ mīlā'', ; Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazi pronunciation: , "Covenant (religion), covenant of circumcision"; Yiddish pronunciation: ''bris'' ) is Religion and circumcision, the cerem ...

, a dissertation on

gematria Gematria (; he, גמטריא or gimatria , plural or , ''gimatriot'') is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word or phrase according to an alphanumerical cipher. A single word can yield several values depending on the cipher ...

and

noṭariḳon Notarikon ( he, נוטריקון ''Noṭriqōn'') is a Talmudic and Kabbalistic method of deriving a word, by using each of its initial (Hebrew: ) or final letters () to stand for another, to form a sentence or idea out of the words. Another va ...

, 61 decisions of

Eliezer ben Nathan Eliezer ben Nathan () of Mainz (1090–1170), or Ra'avan (), was a halakist and liturgical poet. As an early Rishon, he was a contemporary of the Rashbam and Rabbeinu Tam, and one of the earliest of the Tosafists. He was the son-in-law of Rabbi ...

; 44 decisions of Tashbetz, decisions of

Isaac of Corbeil Isaac ben Joseph of Corbeil (died 1280) ( he, יצחק בן יוסף מקורבי"ל) was a 13th-century French rabbi and tosafist, best known as the author of ''Sefer Mitzvot Ḳatan.'' Biography Isaac was the son-in-law of R. Yechiel of Paris, ...

, and responsa of Peretz ha-Kohen, decisions of

Isaac Orbil Isaac of Ourville ( he, ''Yiṣḥaq me-Orvil'', ) was a medieval French rabbi, author of the as yet unpublished ''Menahel'', a book of ''halakha'' (Jewish ritual law). Isaac appears to have been a contemporary of Perez of Corbeil (died ); I ...

, of the geonim Naṭronai,

Hai Gaon Hai ben Sherira (Hebrew: האי/י בר שרירא) better known as Hai Gaon (Hebrew: האי/י גאון, חאיי גאון), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the ...

Amram Gaon Amram Gaon ( he, עמרם גאון, or Amram bar Sheshna, Hebrew: עמרם בר רב ששנא, or sometimes: Amram ben Sheshna or Amram b. Sheshna; died 875) was a '' gaon'', head of the Jewish Talmud Academy of Sura during the 9th century. H ...

Nahshon Gaon In the Hebrew Bible, ' ''Nahshon ( he, נַחְשׁוֹן ''Naḥšon'') was a tribal leader of the Judahites during the wilderness wanderings of the Book of Numbers. In the King James Version, the name is spelled Naashon, and is within modern ...

, laws of the

mikveh Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purif ...

taken from Perez's ''Sefer ha-Mitzvot,''

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

, and finally the law of excommunication of

Nahmanides Moses ben Nachman ( he, מֹשֶׁה בֶּן־נָחְמָן ''Mōše ben-Nāḥmān'', "Moses son of Nachman"; 1194–1270), commonly known as Nachmanides (; el, Ναχμανίδης ''Nakhmanídēs''), and also referred to by the acronym Ra ...

. Due to its varied contents, the book was later quoted under the title of "Sefer ha-Likkutim".

Author

As to the author of the ''Kol Bo,'' there are different opinions.

Joseph Caro Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro ( he, יוסף קארו; 1488 – March 24, 1575, 13 Nisan 5335 A.M.), was the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the '' Beit Yosef'', and its popular analogue, the ''Shu ...

, in saying that the words of the ''Kol Bo'' are identical with those of the ''Orḥot Ḥayyim'' of

Aaron ben Jacob ha-Kohen Aaron ben Jacob ha-Kohen was a Provençal rabbi, one of a family of scholars living at Narbonne, France (not Lunel, as David Conforte and others say), and who suffered the expulsion of the Jews in 1306. He emigrated to Majorca, and there, some ...

(14th century), seems to have suggested that the ''Kol Bo'' is an abridgment of the ''Orḥot Ḥayyim''. This is also the opinion of the Chida, and according to

Aaron Schlitzstadt According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...

, the epitomizer was a certain Shemariah b. Simḥah, in the 14th century; others think that it was

Joseph ben Tobiah of Provence Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...

. By some scholars it is attributed to a pupil of Peretz ha-Kohen; by others it is identified with the "Sefer ha-Nayyar"; and by

Gedaliah ibn Yaḥya Gedaliah ibn Yahya ben Joseph (Hebrew: גדליה אבן יחיא בן יוסף; – 1587) was a 16th-century Italian Talmudist and Biblical chronologist chiefly known for his Biblical Chronology "Shalshelet HaḲabbalah". Biography Born in I ...

it is attributed to

Isaac ben Sheshet Isaac ben Sheshet Perfet (or Barfat) (1326–1408) ( he, יצחק בן ששת) was a Spanish Talmudic authority, also known by his acronym, Rivash (). He was born at Valencia and settled early in life at Barcelona, where he studied at the scho ...

. Benjacob concluded that the author of the ''Kol Bo'' was

, author of the ''Orḥot Ḥayyim'', and that the ''Kol Bo'' was an earlier form of the ''Orḥot''. Its lack of system and the inadequacy of its authorities are due, Benjacob considers, to the youth of the author.

Zunz Zunz ( he, צוּנְץ, yi, צונץ) is a Yiddish surname: * (1874–1939), Belgian pharmacologist * Sir Gerhard Jack Zunz (1923–2018), British civil engineer * Leopold Zunz (Yom Tov Lipmann Tzuntz) (1794–1886), German Reform rabbi an ...

refutes Benjacob's arguments, his opinion being that the ''Kol Bo'' is a compendium of the ''Orḥot Ḥayyim''. The oldest edition bears neither place nor date, but

Joseph Zedner Joseph Zedner (10 February 1804 – 10 October 1871) was a German Jewish bibliographer and librarian. After completing his education, he acted as teacher in the Jewish school in Strelitz (Mecklenburg), where the lexicographer Daniel Sanders wa ...

''Cat. Hebr. Books Brit. Mus.'' p. 191. conjectures that it was published at Naples in 1490; the second edition is dated "Constantinople, 1519".

References

{{JewishEncyclopedia, title=Kol Bo, url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=338&letter=K, authors=

Cyrus Adler Cyrus Adler (September 13, 1863 – April 7, 1940) was an American educator, Jewish religious leader and scholar. Early years Adler was born to merchant and planter Samuel Adler and Sarah Sulzberger in Van Buren, Arkansas on September 13, 186 ...

and M. Seligsohn Its bibliography: * Azulai, ''Shem ha-Gedolim'', ii.; *

Benjacob Isaac ben Jacob Benjacob (January 10, 1801, Ramygala – July 2, 1863, Vilnius) was a Lithuanian Jewish Maskil, best known as a bibliographer, author, and publisher. His 17-volume Hebrew Bible included Rashi, Mendelssohn, as well as his own ''M ...

, ''Oẓar ha-Sefarim'', p. 239; *

David Conforte David Conforte (c. 1618 – c. 1685) () was a Hebrew literary historian born in Salonica, author of the literary chronicle known by the title ''Ḳore ha-Dorot.'' Biography Conforte came of a family of scholars. His early instructors were rabbis H ...

, ''Ḳore ha-Dorot'', p. 25b; *Gross, in ''Monatsschrift'', xviii. 444; *

, ''Ritus'', pp. 32, 179–180; *M. Schlesinger, in the introduction to his edition of

Aaron ha-Kohen of Lunel Aaron ben Jacob ha-Kohen was a Provençal rabbi, one of a family of scholars living at Narbonne, France (not Lunel, as David Conforte and others say), and who suffered the expulsion of the Jews in 1306. He emigrated to Majorca, and there, some t ...

's ''Orḥot Ḥayyim'', Berlin, 1902. Rabbinic legal texts and responsa Exponents of Jewish law Rishonim