Shulkhan Arukh

The Shulkhan Arukh (Hebrew: "Prepared Table"), by Rabbi Yosef Karo is considered the most authoritative compilation of Jewish law since the Talmud. With its commentaries, it is the main authoratitive source of halakha (Jewish law and custom) and often referred to as the Code of Jewish Law.

Beth Yosef

Its premise and style

The Shulkhan Arukh is an abridgement of a much larger work by Rabbi Karo, titled Beth Yosef (Hebrew: "House of Joseph"). In form it is a commentary upon Jacob ben Asher's Arba'ah Turim ("Tur"); but it is really much more comprehensive, going back to the Talmud and the Midrash compilations relating to Jewish law. This work discusses the pros and cons of the authorities cited by the "Tur", and examines the opinions of the authorities not mentioned by the latter. Rabbi Karo began the Beth Yosef in 1522 at Adrianople, finished it in 1542 at Safed in the Land of Israel; he published it in 1550-59.

Related Topics:
Jacob ben Asher - Arba'ah Turim - Talmud - Midrash - Jewish law - 1522 - Adrianople - 1542 - Safed - Land of Israel

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Thirty-two authorities, beginning with the Talmud and ending with the works of Rabbi Yisrael Isserlein (the Terumath ha-Deshen), are briefly summed up and critically discussed in Beth Yosef. No other rabbinical work compares with it in wealth of material. Karo evidences not only an astonishing range of reading, covering almost the whole of rabbinic literature, but also very remarkable powers of critical investigation. He shows no disposition to accept blindly the opinions of the ancient authorities, notwithstanding his great respect for them.

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In the introduction to his monumental compilation, Karo clearly states the necessity of and his reasons for undertaking such a work. The expulsion of the Jews from the Iberian peninsula and the invention of printing endangered the stability of religious observances on their legal and ritual sides. In Spain and Portugal questions were generally decided by the "customs of the country"; the different districts had their standard authorities to which they appealed in doubtful cases. The most prominent of these were Maimonides, Nahmanides, and Asher ben Jehiel. When the Spanish-Portuguese exiles came to the various communities in the East and West, where usages entirely different from those to which they had been accustomed prevailed, the question naturally arose whether the newcomers, the majority of whom were men of greater learning than the members of the invaded communities, should be ruled by the latter, or vice versa. The increase of printed books, moreover, spread broadcast the products of halakhic literature; so that many half-educated persons, finding themselves in possession of legal treatises, felt justified in following any ancient authority at will. Karo undertook his Beth Yosef to remedy this evil, quoting and critically examining in his book the opinions of all the authorities then known.

Related Topics:
Jew - Spain - Portugal - Maimonides - Nahmanides - Asher ben Jehiel

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The standard authorities

Karo at first intended to follow his own judgment in cases of differences of opinion between the various authorities, especially where he could support his own view by the Talmud. But he gave up this idea because, as he says: "Who has the courage to rear his head aloft among mountains, the heights of God?" and also because he thought, though he does not mention his conclusion, that he could gain no following if he set up his authority against that of the ancient scholars. Hence Karo took the halakhot of Rabbi Isaac Alfasi (the Rif), Maimonides, and Asher ben Jehiel (the Rosh) as his standards, accepting as authoritative the opinion of two of the three, except in cases where most of the ancient authorities were against them. Karo very often decides disputed cases without regard to the age and importance of the authority in question, expressing simply his own views. He follows Maimonides' example, as seen in Mishneh Torah (the "Yad"), rather than that of Jacob ben Asher, who seldom decides between ancient authorities.

Related Topics:
Talmud - God - Halakhot - Isaac Alfasi - Maimonides - Asher ben Jehiel - Mishneh Torah

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In its form, Karo's Beth Yosef follows Jacob ben Asher's "Tur". Several reasons induced Karo to connect his work with the "Tur", instead of Maimonides' code. In the first place, the "Tur", although not considered so great an authority as Maimonides' code, was much more widely known; the latter being recognized only among the Spanish Jews, while the former enjoyed a high reputation among the Ashkenazim and Sephardim, as well as the Italians. Secondly, it was not Karo's intention to write a code similar in form to Maimonides' work; he intended to give not merely the results of his investigations, but also the investigations themselves. He wished not only to aid the officiating rabbi in the performance of his duties, but also to trace for the student the development of particular laws from the Talmud through later rabbinical literature. The study of Talmudic literature was not for Karo, as for Maimonides, merely a means toward an end (namely, for religious observances) but an end in itself; he, therefore, did not favor codes that contained only decisions, without giving any reasons for them.

Related Topics:
Jacob ben Asher - "Tur" - Ashkenazi - Sephardi - Rabbi

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