Judah ben Joseph Moscato (c.1533 1590) was one of the most distinguished rabbis, authors, and preachers of the Italian-Jewish Renaissance. The book "Sefer Nefu ot Yehudah" belongs to the very centre of his important homiletic and philosophical oeuvre. Composed in Mantua and published in Venice in 1589, the collection of 52 sermons addresses the subject of the Jewish festivals, focussing on philosophy, mysticism, sciences and rites. This and subsequent volumes will provide a critical edition of the original Hebrew text, accompanied by an English translation.

Gianfranco Miletto is university private lecturer ("Privatdozent") at the University of Halle-Wittenberg. He has published on Biblical Philology and on the Jewish culture in Italy at the time of the Renaissance and Counter-Reformation: L' Antico Testamento Ebraico nella tradizione babilonese (1992); Die Heldenschilde des Abraham ben David Portaleone, 2 vols. (2003); Glauben und Wissen im Zeitalter der Reformation (2004), and Judah Moscato Sermons: Edition and Translation, Volume One (2011).
Giuseppe Veltri, is Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Halle-Wittenberg and Director of the Zunz Centre (Halle). He has published widely in the subjects of hermeneutics and philosophy including Gegenwart der Tradition (2002), Cultural Intermediaries (2004 with D. Ruderman); Libraries, Translation and 'Canonic texts' (2006); The Jewish Body (2008, with M. Diemling); Renaissance Philosophy in Jewish Garb (2009) and Judah Moscato Sermons: Edition and Translation, Volume One (2011).