Rabbi Yosef Karo

Born in the year 5235 (1475 C.E.) on the 13th of Nisan at the age of 87, and passed away in Tzfat in the year 5348 (1588 C.E.).

One of the greatest rabbis and halakhic decisors of all generations. He authored "HaShulchan Aruch," which is an abridgment of the halakha from his work, "Beit Yosef," from which he received his honorific: "HaBeit Yosef."

He was expelled from Spain with his parents and wandered to Portugal until they settled in Istanbul, Turkey.

He moved to live in Western Turkey, married a wife, and was appointed head of a yeshiva. He then wandered again to Bulgaria and founded a yeshiva at the age of 22, where he began writing his book "HaBeit Yosef."

He ascended to the Land of Israel and settled in Tzfat, where he joined his teacher, Rabbi Yaakov Berab, who ordained him for rabbinate in the year 5296 (1536 C.E.). After Rabbi Yaakov left Tzfat, Rabbi Yosef became the head of the yeshiva and the chief of the sages in the city. His disciples included: Rabbi Moshe Cordovero (Ramak) and Rabbi Moshe Alshich.

He worked on the composition of "HaBeit Yosef" for about 20 years, arranging it according to the book "Arba'ah Turim" by Rabbenu Yaakov, son of the Rosh (Rabbenu Asher). He gathered the opinions of most decisors on every halakha, conducted deep halakhic discussions, and decided the halakha based predominantly on the Rambam, the Rosh, and the Rif (Rabbi Yitzchak Alfasi). In cases where they did not address a specific halakhic matter, he brought the opinions of the Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman), the Rashba (Rabbi Shlomo ben Avraham Ibn Aderet), and the Ran (Rabbi Nissim ben Reuven).

When he completed "HaBeit Yosef," he wrote an abridged book, which is "HaShulchan Aruch." After the Rema (Rabbi Moshe Isserles) wrote notes and emendations to the Shulchan Aruch, the Shulchan Aruch was accepted even by the decisors among the sages of Ashkenaz.