## Gevia Kesef, Preface

###### Gevia Kesef, Preface 1
[Gevia Kesef, Preface 1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Gevia%20Kesef/s/Preface/r/1)

אמר יוסף בן כספי: אחר ההודעה לאל ית׳ אשר נתן חכמה אל הרב רבינו משה נר אלוקים נר ישראל אשר באורו נראה אור, אתחיל ואומר הכוונה¹ בספר הזה לכתוב כל מה שנוכל מסתרי התורה שלא ראינו לכתוב בספר מצרף כסף וטירת כסף ומזרק כסף ומנורת כסף. וקראתי ספר זה יורה דעה, דמיון אל שם מורה התורה, כי זה פירושם. ויכונה² על שמי גביע הכסף הוא אשר ישתה אדוני בו. ואתחיל במכוון בע״ה.³

footnotes:
¹ מ: הכונה
² מ: מכונה
³ מ: ב״ה

**Trans. by Basil Herring, New York, Ktav, 1982:**
¹ as “God.” **Annotation**
In the notes that follow, references to the chapters in Part I of this book are given in arabic numbers (e.g., Chapter 1) and references to chapters of the *Gevia‘ Kesef* are given in roman numbers (e.g., chap. I).Joseph Ibn Kaspi said: After giving thanks to God, who bestowed wisdom on our teacher Moses, the light of God and the light of Israel, in whose light we see light,¹ I will begin by saying that the intention of this work is to write whatever I can regarding the secrets of the Torah that I did not see fit to write in the *Maṣref La-Kesef, Ṭirat Kesef, Mizraḳ Kesef*, and *Menorat Kesef*.², the relation of these works to the *Gevia‘ Kesef* has been discussed. I have called this book *Yoreh De‘ah* (“The Guide to Knowledge”),³ in Kaspi’s writings, this name is not found. One reason for mentioning this name in this context might be the desire to indicate the importance of this work as a source of knowledge. In the Munich MS of the *Ḳevuṣat Kesef*, another name, *’Oṣar ’Adonai*, is mentioned. similar to the name *Moreh Ha-Torah* (“The Guide to the Torah”), for that is its meaning. Its agnomen reflecting my own name is *Gevia‘ Kesef* (“The Silver Goblet”), “it is that in which my lord drinketh.”⁴ We can begin with what is intended, with the help of the Lord.

footnotes:
¹ *Parenthetical insertions in the body of the translated text have been inserted by the translator to facilitate a clearer understanding of Kaspi’s text. Scriptural verses are translated in accordance with the 1917 JPS translation. Hence the tetragrammaton is rendered as “Lord”; ’Elokim
¹ 1. These terms refer to Moses Maimonides, not Moses the lawgiver, for these honorifics are used by Kaspi elsewhere to describe Maimonides. See, for example, “our teacher Moses” (MK II 294; AS I 68); Maimonides as the source of illumination is mentioned on AK I 46, 51, 111.
² 2. In the chapter introducing the Gevia‘ Kesef
³ 3. In all the references to the Gevia‘ Kesef
⁴ 4. Gen. 44:2, 5.