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'''''Kol Bo''''' ({{langx|he|'''כל-בו'''}}, 'all is in it') is a collection of [[Jewish]] [[Halakha|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]] 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 [[aveilut|mourning]] (No. 115), there comes a miscellaneous collection, containing the "takkanot" of [[R. Gershom]] and of [[Rabbeinu Tam]], the ''Ma'aseh Torah'' of [[Judah haNasi]], the legend of [[Solomon]]'s throne, the legend of [[Joshua b. Levi]], a kabbalistic dissertation on [[brit milah]], a dissertation on [[gematria]] and [[noṭariḳon]], 61 decisions of [[Eliezer ben Nathan]]; 44 decisions of [[Simeon ben Zemah Duran|Tashbetz]], decisions of [[Isaac of Corbeil]], and responsa of Peretz ha-Kohen, decisions of [[Isaac Orbil]], of the geonim [[Naṭronai]], [[Hai Gaon]], [[Amram Gaon]], [[Nahshon Gaon]], laws of the [[mikveh]] taken from Perez's ''Sefer ha-Mitzvot,'' [[responsa]], and finally the law of excommunication of [[Nahmanides]].
Due to its varied contents, the book was later quoted under the title of "Sefer ha-Likkutim".<ref>In ''Avkat Rokhel'', No. 13</ref>
== Author ==
As to the author of the ''Kol Bo,'' there are different opinions.
[[Joseph Caro]], in saying that the words of the ''Kol Bo'' are identical with those of the ''Orḥot Ḥayyim'' of [[Aaron ben Jacob ha-Kohen]] (14th century), seems to have suggested that the ''Kol Bo'' is an abridgment of the ''Orḥot Ḥayyim''. This is also the opinion of the [[Chaim Joseph David Azulai|Chida]], and according to [[Aaron Schlitzstadt]], the epitomizer was a certain Shemariah b. Simḥah, in the 14th century;<ref>See [[Benjacob]], ''Devarim Attikim'', 2:9</ref> others think that it was [[Joseph ben Tobiah of Provence]]. By some scholars it is attributed to a pupil of Peretz ha-Kohen; by others it is identified with the "Sefer ha-Nayyar";<ref>Gedaliah ibn Jechia the Spaniard, ''Shalshelet Ha-Kabbalah'', Jerusalem 1962, p. 133 (Hebrew)</ref> and by [[Gedaliah ibn Yaḥya]] it is attributed to [[Isaac ben Sheshet]].<ref>Compare  ''Sifte Yeshenim''.</ref> Benjacob<ref>''Kerem Ḥemed'', viii. 167 ''et seq''.</ref> concluded that the author of the ''Kol Bo'' was [[Aaron ben Jacob ha-Kohen]], 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. [[Leopold Zunz|Zunz]]<ref>''Ritus'', p. 180.</ref> 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]]<ref>''Cat. Hebr. Books Brit. Mus.'' p. 191.</ref> conjectures that it was published at Naples in 1490; the second edition is dated "Constantinople, 1519".
==References==
<references/>
{{JewishEncyclopedia|title=Kol Bo|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=338&letter=K |author=[[Cyrus Adler]] |author2=[[M. Seligsohn]]}}
[[Category:Rabbinic legal texts and responsa]]
[[Category:Exponents of Jewish law]]
[[Category:Rishonim]]