Moses Isserles was a Polish rabbinic scholar born in Krakow in 1530 who spent his entire career there, heading its yeshiva until his death in 1572. Because Joseph Karo's newly published Shulchan Aruch, completed in Ottoman Palestine, reflected mainly Sephardic legal custom, Isserles composed the Mapah, literally the tablecloth, a set of glosses laid over Karo's code that inserted the parallel Ashkenazi rulings and customs of European Jewry wherever the two traditions diverged; he had already worked through much of the same material in his earlier commentary, the Darkhei Moshe, on Jacob ben Asher's Arba'ah Turim and Karo's own Beit Yosef. The Mapah's integration into Karo's text was so complete that the term Shulchan Aruch has since referred to the combined work of both authors rather than to Karo's original code alone. Through this gloss, Isserles reestablished the Talmudic authorities and customs of Ashkenazi Jewry as a deciding factor in Jewish law rather than allowing Karo's Sephardic rulings to stand unchallenged, and the merged code became the universally accepted law code across both the Sephardic and Ashkenazi branches of Judaism.
Facts
RoleEminent Polish Ashkenazi rabbi, talmudist, and posek 2 Nationality / Jurisdiction Place of Death Classification
Field of LawIslamic Law (Sharia and Fiqh) 1 Role
Role (category) FAQs
Why is Moses Isserles credited alongside Joseph Karo in the Shulchan Aruch?
Isserles added the Ashkenazi rulings and customs to Karo's Sephardic code in his glosses, the Mapah, and the two are now printed as one work.
Joseph Karo wrote the Shulchan Aruch in Ottoman Palestine, and it reflected mainly Sephardic legal custom. Moses Isserles judged that Karo had not discussed a substantial portion of the opinions of the halachic authorities, particularly the Ashkenazic authorities, so he wrote glosses called the Mapah, literally the tablecloth, spread over the table that Karo had set. The glosses added the rulings and customs of Ashkenazi Jewry wherever the two traditions diverged. Because the Mapah was integrated into Karo's text, the term Shulchan Aruch now refers to the combined work of both authors.
Connections
In Legal System
Source Wikidata: Moses Isserles
Additional Source Moses Isserles (Wikipedia)Wikipedia lead paragraph
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Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Source Moses Isserles (Wikipedia)tier 2
Sources
1. Wikidata: Moses Isserles
Wikidata Q1949189, P569 date of birth claim (year)
P569 (date of birth): 1520
Wikidata Q1949189, P569 date of birth claim (full date)
P569 (date of birth): 1520-03-03
Wikidata Q1949189, P570 date of death claim (year)
P570 (date of death): 1572
Wikidata Q1949189, P570 date of death claim (full date)
P570 (date of death): 1572-05-20
Wikidata Q1949189, P19 place of birth claim
P19 (place of birth): Kraków
Wikidata Q1949189, P20 place of death claim
P20 (place of death): Kraków
View the Source2. Moses Isserles (Wikipedia)
WikipediaFull article, gender
His father, Israel ben Josef (known as Isserl), was a prominent talmudist and independently wealthy, who had probably headed the community; his grandfather, Yehiel Luria, was the first rabbi of Brisk. (In an era which preceded the common use of surnames, Moses became known by his patronymic, Isserles.)
Introduction, nationality
Moses Isserles was a Polish rabbinic scholar born in Krakow in 1530 who spent his entire career there, heading its yeshiva until his death in 1572.
Biography section
His father, Israel ben Josef (known as Isserl), was a prominent talmudist and independently wealthy, who had probably headed the community; his grandfather, Yehiel Luria, was the first rabbi of Brisk. (In an era which preceded the common use of surnames, Moses became known by his patronymic, Isserles.) At first he studied at home, and then in Lublin under Rabbi Shalom Shachna, who would later become his father-in-law.
In Legal System: Halakha, Wikipedia lead paragraph
known by the acronym Rema, was an eminent Polish Ashkenazi rabbi, talmudist, and posek (expert in Jewish law).
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