R. Moshe Alshekh (d. after 1593), rabbi and Bible commentator, born in Adrianople. He studied in Salonika under R. Joseph Taitazak and R. Joseph Caro, and then emigrated to Erez Israel, settling in Safed, where he gained prominence as an halakhic authority, a teacher in two talmudic academies, and a preacher. He was active in communal affairs and was a member of the rabbinical court of R. Joseph Caro, who conferred upon him the full ordination which had been reintroduced by R. Jacob Berab. Alshekh in turn ordained in 1590 Hayyim Vital, who was his disciple in halakhah. His major field of interest was halakhah but, acceding to requests to preach on Sabbaths, in the course of preparing his sermons he occupied himself also with Bible exegesis. He also engaged in the study of the Kabbalah, from which he derived the fundamentals of his religious philosophy. According to one tradition, R. Isaac Luria sought to dissuade him from pursuing kabbalistic studies.

The Alshekh's commentaries, which are permeated with religious - ethical and religious - philosophical ideas supported by ample quotations from talmudic and midrashic sources, became very popular and have often been reprinted.