(13th cent.). French tosafist (see Tosafot). Born in Coucy, Moses settled in Paris. An itinerant preacher, from 1236 he traveled in Provence and Spain, rebuking the Jewish masses for their laxity in the observance of the mitsvot, especially those of Tefillin, Tsitsit, and Mezuzah. Through his powerful sermons he succeeded in making many Spanish Jews divorce their Gentile wives. In his preaching he emphasized the virtues of humility and of probity in business dealings with non-Jews. In Paris in 1240, he was one of four rabbis who defended the Talmud in a public disputation against the charges of the apostate Nicholas Donin.
Moses of Coucy's fame rests on his Codification of Jewish Law, Sefer ha-Mitsvot, known as Sefer Mitsvot Gadol (SeMaG), to distinguish it from the abridgment by Isaac of Corbeil, the Sefer Mitsvot Katan (SeMaK). Divided into two parts, according to the 365 negative and 248 positive commandments, it summarizes the Oral Law and is greatly influenced by Maimonides' Mishneh Torah. Many commentaries on it were written and the work is quoted by numerous later authorities. Moses of Coucy also wrote Tosafot to tractate Yoma and a commentary on the Pentateuch.
