A Brief History Of The Shulchan Aruch

There are few religions on earth that are as dedicated to extensive study of its traditions, religious texts and teachings than Judaism. The faithful are on a constant quest to discover the mysteries of God and are dedicated to learning all they can in order to fully implement and live by the laws that have been respected and loved by their forebears for thousands of years. The Shulchan Aruch or Code of Jewish Law is an impressive compilation of Judaic laws that was written over 500 years ago. Here is a brief history.

Josef Karo was a 16th century Spanish-born rabbi who was already a brilliant scholar in the Torah even as a young man. He lived most of his life in Palestine and was widely believed to have been taught by a “Maggid” or private angelic teacher. Karo established a yeshiva and for many years instructed young people in the Torah. As he moved up in the rabbinical world and became a leader in Israel, Karo came to be regarded as the foremost scholar of his generation. The Maggid was believed to have given him many glimpses into the future and enlightened him in kabbalist teachings.

Karo was a religious scholar his entire life and his interpretations and commentaries on Jewish law were widely respected. He wrote the Beth Josef according to the traditions and customs of the Sephardic law, and along with the Torah and the Talmud is considered to be the most respected set of religious writings in Judaism.

The Shulchan Aruch

The Beth Josef is an exhaustive and comprehensive compilation of commentaries and analyses of the Torah, Talmud and other works that took Karo 20 years to write. Karo understood that many Jews would simply not have the education and insight to understand the complexities of the Beth Josef, so he decided in his old age to create an abridged version which he called the Shulchan Aruch. Because it is more easily understandable and concise than the Beth Josef, the Shulchan Aruch became the more popular and widely-used of the two books in the centuries that followed.

Although the Shulchan Aruch is an abridgement of an even larger book, its teachings are still rather difficult for those with less education in Judaic law. For this reason, it was recompiled several times in the 19th century in an attempt to simplify it further. However, the book in its original form still stands as one of the most widely-respected and highly-used compilations of “halacha” today.