Rabbi Moshe Rivkes was born around 5360 (1600); Hebrew Wikipedia places his birth in Prague, while other sources describe him as a native of Vilna. His father, Rabbi Naftali Hirsch Sofer, was a great scholar and a disciple of the Sma. His mother, Rivkah, took upon herself the support of the household so that her husband could study undisturbed, and it is after her that her son was called "Moshe Rivkes."

He spent most of his life in Vilna, where he served as rabbi and owned a large house with an extensive library. His piety earned him the title "Chassid." In Tammuz 5415 (1655), when the city was invaded, he fled together with most of Vilna's Jews; in his introduction he writes that he left with nothing but his walking staff in his right hand and his tefillin bag in his left.

He found refuge in Amsterdam, where the Sephardic community received him with honor, supported in particular by Rabbis Saul Levi Morteira and Yitzchak Aboab. At the request of the printers Ephraim Bueno and Yaakov Castello he corrected the edition of the Shulchan Aruch being prepared there, noting for each law its source in the Gemara and the Rishonim. This work, the Be'er HaGolah, appeared in the Amsterdam edition of 5421-5426 (1661-1666) and has been printed in every edition since. In it he condemns dishonesty toward non-Jews in commercial dealings and stresses the duty to respect Jews and gentiles alike.

He also wrote Kelalei HaHora'ah, on the rules of halachic decision-making, and Kli HaGolah, a collection of comments on the Shulchan Aruch; neither was printed.

When peace returned he went back to Vilna, where he died: on 4 Elul 5431 (1671) according to Hebrew Wikipedia, or on 9 Sivan 5432 (1672) according to other sources. He was buried in the old Jewish cemetery of Šnipiškės in Vilna, most of which was destroyed by the Soviets in 1957.