JWST 10500 - The Legal Codes: Tur and Shulchan Aruch (1300 - 1700)

An Extremely Short and Oversimplified Timeline of Jewish History and Halacha

1000 CE - 1500 CE	Rishonim (the First Ones)	Commentaries (Rashi, Tosafot) Law Codes Sefer haHalachot (Yitzchak Alfasi, the "Rif", 1000s) Mishneh Torah (Rambam, 1180) Tur (Yaakov ben Asher, 1300s) Crusades (11th-12th cent.) Expulsion from Spain (1492)
1500 CE - Present	Achronim (the Later Ones)	Shulchan Aruch (Yosef Karo, 1563) (Sephardim follow) Rema gloss on the S"A (R Moses Isserles, 1574) (Ashkenazim follow) Mishna Berurah (Israel Meir Kagan, late 1800s) 20th Century Responsa - (Moshe Feinstein, Rav Soloveitchik - Ashkenazim), (Ovadia Yosef - Sefardim)

Cast of Characters:
Rishonim of The French School
"Rashi" - Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040 - 1105, France), author of the definitive commentary on the Talmud and the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). Rashi is a "local" commentary.
"Rabbeinu Tam" - Rabbi Yaakov ben Meir (1100 - 1171, France) grandson of Rashi and the first of the Talmudic commentators known as the Tosefot, or Tosefists ("additions"). Rabbeinu Tam and the Tosefot are "global" commentators.
Rishonim of The Spanish School
The "Rif" - Rabbi Isaac Al-Fasi [Al-Fasi = from Fez, in Morocco] (1013, Algeria -1103, Cordoba, Spain). The Rif wrote a condensed version of the Talmud, leaving out all its discussions and giving the reader the conclusion and final decisions.
The "Rambam" - Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, or Maimonides (1135, Cordoba, Spain - 1204, Fustat, Egypt) - The Rambam gathered the various halachat scattered throughout the Talmud (and the responsa literaterate of the Geonim) and organized it into a halachic codex known as the Mishneh Torah.
The "Rosh" - Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel, or Rabbeinu Asher (1250, Cologne, HRE - 1328, Toledo, Spain). Combined the French and Spanish schools - the Tosafot and the Rif - in his Talmud commentary.
The "Tur", or the "Ba'al haTurim" - Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher (1269, Cologne, HRE - 1343, Toledo, Spain) son of the Rosh and author of the Arba'ah Turim ("Four Columns").
Achronim
Yosef Caro, or the "Mechaber" (the author) - (1488 Toledo, Spain - 1575 Safed/Tsfat, Ottoman Empire) - author of the "Beit Yosef" (a commentary on the Tur) and the Shulchan Aruch (the "set table"), which uses the format of the Tur and would go on to supplant it as the authoritative work on halacha.
The "Rema" - Rabbi Moses Isserles (1530 - 1572 Krakow, Poland) - author of the Darkhei Moshe (a commentary on the Tur and on Caro's Beit Yosef) and the "Mapah" (the "tablecloth", a gloss on the Shulchan Aruch that focuses on when Ashkenazi and Sephardi customs differ).

An illuminated manuscript of Arba'ah Turim from 1435, Mantua, Italy.
The image displayed is f.220r, the first page of the third book, dedicated to marriage and to the laws governing family life. The miniature represents a nuptial scene.

A 1565 edition, printed in Venice, of Even Ha'ezer, the third part of Arba'ah Turim

Jacob Ben Asher, the Ba’al Haturim - The author of the Arba'ah Turim set the stage for Joseph Caro's Shulchan Aruch.
MyJewishLearning.com
Jacob Ben Asher, also known as Ba’al Haturim, after his famous work, the Arba’ah Turim, was a Jewish legal scholar and biblical commentator in late 13th and early 14th century Spain. Born in Germany, he emigrated with his father to Spain and is believed to have died sometime before 1340.
He is best known for writing the Arba’ah Turim, a four-part code of Jewish law that was the standard legal code for both Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews until it was displaced by Yosef Caro’s Shulchan Aruch, published in the 1560s.
The work consists of four sections:
1. Orah Hayyim (Path of Life), which addresses prayer, the Sabbath and festivals, and general religious duties.
2. Yoreh Deah (Teaching Knowledge), which deals with kashrut and various complex legal matters [such as marital relations and mourning].
3. Even Ha-Ezer (Stone of Help), which deals with the laws of marriage and divorce.
4. Hoshen Mishpat (Breastplate of Judgment), which deals with civil [and financial] law.
The first complete edition of the Arba’ah Turim (often referred to as the Tur) was printed in 1475, just decades after the invention of the printing press; after the Bible, it was the most popular Hebrew work printed in the 15th century.
In the introduction to the Arba’ah Turim, Ben Asher wrote that he undertook the project to establish a legal code suited to contemporary needs, because Maimonides’ compilation of Talmudic laws was too bulky for general use. Ben Asher simplified Maimonides’ work by omitting laws that could not be applied after the destruction of the Temple, while adding accounts of the different Jewish customs he had observed in various countries and pointing out the differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardic practices. While the first of the four sections cites Ashkenazi rabbis more frequently than Sephardic ones, the other three sections rely more on Sephardic authorities.

Some more info about the Tur:
He followed Maimonides' precedent in arranging his work in a topical order. However, unlike Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, the Arba'ah Turim covers only those areas of Jewish religious law that were in force in the author's time.
Rabbi Jacob did not deal with criminal law, let alone with the sacrifices or the agricultural precepts that could be observed only in the Holy Land.
Another departure from Maimonides' precedent was the fact that the Tur did not limit itself to recording the normative positions, but compared the various opinions on any disputed point.
[The Tur's "beis din" - the Rif, the Rambam, and the Rosh]
As his starting point, he took the 11th-century Spanish code of Rabbi Isaac Alfasi, which was still regarded as the definitive compendium of Jewish law. Alfasi's views were compared with those of Maimonides, as well as to the French and German traditions that were contained in the Tosafot literature. The comparison of the northern European and Spanish legal traditions had been pioneered by Rabbi Jacob's German-born father, Rabbi Asher ben Jehiel (the "Rosh"). In most instances, Rabbi Jacob's followed his father's opinion.
The influence of the Arba'ah Turim is thus perceptible in its integration of the Franco-German and Spanish legal traditions, as well as in its fourfold structure, which was later adopted by Rabbi Joseph Caro's Shulhan 'Arukh, and remains the most widely used structure for the organization of law codes and responsa.

The Shulchan Aruch - This 16th-century text by Joseph Caro is the ultimate code of Jewish law
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, MyJewishLearning.com
Given the Talmud’s complexity, scholars since the medieval period have attempted to codify Jewish law in an easily accessible format. In the 12th century, Moses Maimonides (Rambam) composed the Mishneh Torah, a summary of laws relating to all areas of Jewish life. This work, written in simple Hebrew, is meant to be accessible for the average Jew who does not have the skills or motivation to access Talmud.
A century later, Jacob ben Asher produced the Arba’ah Turim (often called the Tur for short), a code that addresses only the practical areas of Jewish law. Unlike Maimonides, Jacob ben Asher restricted his discussion to laws relevant to post-Temple Jewish life, and cited his sources, referencing different opinions when necessary.
The Shulchan Aruch’s Beginnings
On the heels of the Tur, the next influential Jewish code of law was the Shulchan Aruch (literally, the “set table”), written by Joseph Caro (1488-1575). Caro was part of a Sephardic family that was expelled from Spain in 1492. After the death of his father, Caro was adopted by his uncle, Isaac Caro, the author of a commentary on the Bible. The Caro family eventually settled in Safed, the area of northern Israel where the mystical circle of Isaac Luria then flourished. Both Isaac and Joseph Caro became part of this community of mystics.
Joseph Caro originally set out to write a commentary on the Arba’ah Turim that would cite sources not mentioned by Jacob ben Asher and that would often differ from the Tur’s conclusions. This commentary, named the Beit Yosef, reads like a set of footnotes to Jacob ben Asher’s more concise statements of law.
In the introduction to this work, Caro explains that the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and their subsequent dispersion among Ashkenazic communities had caused confusion about the rules of observance. Sephardic Jews often found that their inherited traditions differed from those of the Ashkenazi Jews into whose communities they had moved; with the dismantling of Sephardic communities, it was no longer clear who had authority to decide matters of law. By presenting all known sources on particular issues, Caro hoped to clear up this confusion.
The Beit Yosef eventually became the notes for the Shulchan Aruch, which would become Caro’s most famous and influential work. Originally intended as a crutch for those not sufficiently learned to read the Beit Yosef or the halachic works referenced there, the Shulchan Aruch soon became the most important code of Jewish law.
Format of the Shulchan Aruch
Caro divided his work according to the categories introduced by Jacob ben Asher. Like the Arba’ah Turim, the Shulchan Aruch is divided into four sections:
Orah Hayim (laws relating to prayer, Shabbat and holiday observance, and other rituals of everyday life),
Yoreh De’ah (laws of kashrut, tzedakah, conversion, and other ritual matters),
Even ha’Ezer (laws relating to women and marriage), and
Hoshen Mishpat (civil law, including sections on lending money, renting and buying homes, and worker-employer relations).
Within each of these four sections, laws on similar subjects are grouped together. Each section is divided into simanim (paragraphs), and those are further divided into se’ifim (sub-sections). A citation of the Shulchan Aruch, thus, might read: Hoshen Mishpat 335:1, meaning: section Hoshen Mishpat, siman (chapter) 335, se’if (item) 1.
In general, the Shulchan Aruch presents laws in a straightforward way, with virtually no discussion. For example, Caro’s instructions for lighting Hanukkah candles read:
"How many candles should one light? On the first night, one lights one; from then on, one adds one each night until there are eight on the last night (Orah Hayim 671:2)."
Although the Talmud and other earlier texts include other traditions for the appropriate means of lighting Hanukkah candles, Caro chose to present only what he considered to be the correct procedure, in order to avoid confusing his readers.
Commentaries on the Shulchan Aruch
When Caro published the Bet Yosef, Rabbi Moshe Isserles (known as the Rema), an Ashkenazi legal scholar, responded with his own commentary on the Arba’ah Turim, called Darkhei Moshe. Learning that Caro was about to issue the Shulchan Aruch, Isserles abandoned this project and instead wrote a commentary on Caro’s work.
Isserles criticized Caro for often ignoring the opinions of Ashkenazic scholars, commenting that, “Caro’s books are full of decisions that do not follow the interpretations of the sages from whose waters we drink …[the sages] whose children’s children we are.”
The Rema's contribution (from Prof. Eliezer Segal's website)
Isserles perceived a serious shortcoming in Caro's work, in that it was based almost entirely on Spanish (Sepharadic) authorities. Of the three principal pillars of the Shulhan Arukh [the Rif, the Rambam, and the Rosh], only the Rosh had non-Sepharadic roots, having lived most of his life in Germany before moving to Spain. However his legal compendium had been written in the the Spanish spirit.
Thus it was evident that, in spite of its great virtues, the Shulhan Arukh could not be accepted by Jewish communities in Germany and Poland without some modification. Isserles sought to perform this service with his glosses, in which he supplemented the rulings of Caro's original Shulhan Arukh with material drawn from the laws, interpretations and customs of Franco-German and Polish Jewry.
All standard printed editions of the Shulhan Arukh include Isserles' notes, embedded in the text (introduced as "Hagahah ["gloss']), but distinguished by its semi-cursive ("Rashi") script. When people refer to the "Shulhan Arukh" they are usually thinking of the combination of Caro's and Isserles' works.
[The Growing Acceptance of the Shulchan Aruch]
It has become a familiar joke that every time a person claims to have the last word on Judaism, multiple commentators appear to challenge this assertion. Famously, Maimonides had the chutzpah to claim that a person could read the written Torah and then the Mishneh Torah and “from them, know the oral Torah and have no need to read another book.” Not surprisingly, Maimonides’ code did not become the last word in Jewish law, but rather almost immediately became the subject of numerous commentaries and critiques.
Similarly, the Shulchan Aruch did not immediately achieve widespread acceptance. Many scholars thought publishing a comprehensive code of law was forbidden, fearing that readers of such a code would have no way of knowing the history or range of opinions on various laws.
Rabbi Shlomo ben Yechiel Luria (the Maharshal), a contemporary of Caro’s, was the author of Yam shel Shlomo, a commentary on part of the Talmud. In the introduction to that work, the Maharshal declared the impossibility of “explain[ing] every uncertainty in the Torah to the point that there is no disagreement.” Rather, he argued, each scholar should delve into the sources, add new interpretations, and decide among various opinions.
Ironically, the Shulchan Aruch ultimately gained its legitimacy through the publication of two major commentaries by 17th-century Ashkenazic scholars. These works, known as Turei Zahav (“Taz”) and Siftei Kohen (“Shakh”) and written by David ben Shmuel haLevi (Poland, 1586-1667) and Shabbetai ben Meir haKohen (Lithuania, 1621-1662), respectively, respond to the critiques of the Shulchan Aruch by explaining Caro’s reasoning, introducing alternative opinions, and offering their own conclusions.
In treating the Shulchan Aruch as an independent work worthy of a commentary of its own, rather than as the poor cousin of the more extensive Bet Yosef, these two scholars secured the place of the Shulchan Aruch as the authoritative code for generations to come.
The best-known later commentary on the Shulchan Aruch is the 19th-century Mishneh B’rurah, written by Yisrael Meir Kogan, which includes explanations and a collection of later opinions on the Orah Hayim section of the code. The 19th century also saw a number of attempts to abridge the Shulchan Aruch. The most famous of these is Shlomo Ganzfried’s Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, which summarizes Caro’s work while also incorporating some alternative opinions and contemporary customs.
Influence of the Shulchan Aruch
To this day, the Shulchan Aruch remains the most influential code of Jewish law. Contemporary legal scholars may, on occasion, disagree with Caro’s conclusions, but they cannot ignore him. The proliferation of commentaries on the Shulchan Aruch has only solidified its central position in the canon. Almost 500 years after Caro produced a work intended primarily for those unable to study more complex legal works, his code has become the primary textbook for most traditional Jewish schools and yeshivas.