#198: Rabbi Yosef Karo I: The Story behind the Shulchan Aruch
History for the Curious - The Jewish History PodcastShow Notes
Join our WhatsApp group for weekly exclusive content: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DY9iLSyR8rI12AVxXi2bs7?s=cl&p=a&mlu=4&ilr=4&iam=2
This 2-part series discovers the dramatic life of Rabbi Yosef Karo, which was lived far beyond the pages of his famous legal code, the Shulchan Aruch.
Born into the upheaval of the 1492 Spanish Expulsion, he fled across borders from Lisbon to Cairo to Greece and eventually to Eretz Yisrael and was instructed by a spiritual maggid. But the 16th century of mass migrations threatened to fracture Jewish tradition into "countless Torahs". So he embarked on a monumental mission to write a master legal framework and unite the diaspora, which fundamentally reshaped our lives.
His story included an attempt to hasten the Messianic era, that led to him being banned from the main synagogue of Tzfas and a son born to him in his old age.
Timestamps: 00:00 Intro & dedication 02:20 Who was Rabbi Yosef Karo? 05:57 Tzfas: The rise of a holy city 16:46 Karo’s authority in Tzfas 21:08 What was Smicha and why revive it? 26:25 The 1538 Smicha controversy 35:44 Challenges to reviving Smicha 40:57 Rabbi Yosef Karo and Smicha 45:29 Why Karo wrote the Beis Yosef & Shulchan Aruch 50:19 Why the Tur? Karo’s method of codification 54:33 Ashkenazi vs Sephardi practice & local Minhag 57:38 Modern implications & the post-Holocaust world 1:00:23 Closing & Part 2
More from History for the Curious - The Jewish History Podcast
Join our Whatsapp Group - https://chat.whatsapp.com/DY9iLSyR8rI12AVxXi2bs7?s=cl&p=a&mlu=4&ilr=4&iam=2
Forced to lead a dangerous double life as a covert Jew in Christian Europe, she inherited a vast fortune worth $1 billion and used her financial clout and shipping lines to organize a massive underground rescue network that smuggled thousands of fleeing Crypto-Jews across the continent. Her visionary leadership secured the Sultan’s help to rebuild the ancient city of Tiberias, and allowed Torah to flourish in Constantinople & Salonika. Although her final days remain shrouded in mystery. This extraordinary, high-stakes life of the "Crowned Lady", who risked everything to defend her people, leaves behind a legacy of ingenuity, bravery, and devotion. To join our WhatsApp group, click on the link below: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DY9iLSyR8rI12AVxXi2bs7?s=cl&p=a&mlu=4&ilr=4&iam=2 For further details of out 2027 Trips visit: www.historyforthecurious.com
Over a period of 30 years, Rav Yosef Karo wrote of his encounters with a divine messenger, an angel which identified itself as the living essence of the Mishna. The most public manifestation took place on an extraordinary night of Shavuos in Salonika in 1533.
Join our WhatsApp group for weekly exclusive content: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DY9iLSyR8rI12AVxXi2bs7?s=cl&p=a&mlu=4&ilr=4&iam=2
Join our WhatsApp group for weekly exclusive content: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DY9iLSyR8rI12AVxXi2bs7?s=cl&p=a&mlu=4&ilr=4&iam=2 George Mandel-Mantello was one man on his own, a Jew living in Switzerland, who ignited an international outcry against the destruction of Hungary’s Jewish community and stopped the deportation of the last 250,000 Jews. Mantello’s weapon was not a gun or an army — it was information. With extraordinary courage and ingenuity, he forged papers, sent a courier into Hungary to gather first-hand reports about Auschwitz and forced the allies to react. But for decades afterwards, the actions of this saviour were deliberately minimised and censored. Meanwhile in nearby Germany, the brother of the highest ranking member of the SS, was helping Jews escape the Nazi inferno. His courage also went unheralded for many years.