Yahrtzeit
Rav Yosef Karo
13 Nisan
1488 – 1575
Role
Posek / Codifier of Jewish Law
Location
Tzefat (Safed)
Works
Shulchan Aruch, Beit Yosef, Kesef Mishneh, Maggid Meisharim
Rav Yosef Karo (1488-1575), author of the Beit Yosef, Shulchan Aruch, Kesef Mishneh, and Maggid Meisharim. The Shulchan Aruch, together with the Rema's glosses (HaMappah), became the universally accepted Code of Jewish Law. He was born in Toledo, Spain, fled the Inquisition to Portugal and then to Turkey, and eventually settled in Tzefat (Safed), where he led the Jewish community.