Caro, Joseph ben-Ephraim

(1488–1575)

   Religious authority and mystic. Caro is best remembered as the author of the Shulchan Aruch (arranged table). He was born into a rabbinical family from Toledo, Spain, that moved to Portugal. At some point the family left Portugal, but nothing more definite is known of Joseph during this period beyond his own statement that he began his talmudic commentary, Bet Yosef (‘House of Joseph’), in 1522. in Adrianople (Turkey), where he lived until 1535. He probably reached Safad in the Galilee about 1537. Caro claimed to have been visited by a heavenly preacher (maggid) and later wrote down his revelations in a mystical diary, parts of which were preserved and published as Maggid Mesharim. In the minds of Caro and his contemporaries, there was no conflict between careful and detailed attention to the law, as shown in the Shulchan Aruch, and cabbalistic speculations such as those transmitted through the Maggid Mesharim diary. In the holy city of Safad, Caro was considered the leading scholar, and his talmudic academy attracted two hundred students. The arrival of Isaac LURIA in Safad in 1569–70 in a sense displaced Caro as the mystic leader in Palestine but his authority in religious law seems to have been accepted by Luria and his disciples. Caro, who lived an austere life, died at the age of 87 and was buried at Safad, where his grave can still be seen in the old cemetery. His great work, Bet Yosef, which was begun in 1522 and finished in 1542, was intended to be a systematic study of halachic literature in its entirety. It was first published in 1555. Caro’s aim was to sift through all talmudic codes and give the authoritative readings, based on the opinions of MAIMONIDES and other medieval scholars. In its shortened and simplified form, the Shulchan Aruch (perhaps intended for his students) remained for centuries the authoritative summation of Jewish law. In four columns, it listed daily duties, rules for Sabbaths and Feast Days, ritual laws and civil and marital laws. That life should be conducted according to the rulings of the Shulchan Aruch became the aim of an Orthodox Jew until 19-century emancipation completely changed the content of Jewish life.