Rabbi Yosef Karo and the Code of Jewish Law Jewish History Lecture Dr. Henry Abramson

Jewish History Lecture by Dr. Henry Abramson on Rabbi Yosef Karo, the author of the Code of Jewish Law. Part of the Jewish Biography as History series at www.henryabramson.com.

[@leaminkowitz4284]

Yes, these lectures are a “great service to the Jewish people!” Thank you for all that you have done and continue to do.

[@HenryAbramsonPhD]

Great to have you with us!

[@Michajeru]

Very enjoyable lecture. Nice teaching style.

[@katriel8693]

Thank you so much for these lectures

[@ganrimmonim]

Thank you very much for putting it on-line it was most interesting.

[@HenryAbramsonPhD]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@JamesDavis-kc6kk]

Rabbi Karo was the author of "Shulkhan Aruch" the Prepared Table.

[@hieronyma_]

If the goal of these lectures is to be a service to the Jewish people, I can confirm that they're of service to me at least.

[@HenryAbramsonPhD]

That is a GREAT compliment, thanks!

[@kwyzi]

always wonderful, thanks

[@gallormeir8622]

Dr. Abramson shalom. Can you talk about Rabbi Shalom Shabzi and other Yemmenite rabnim. Thank you.

[@johnniebee4328]

Another great lecture, thank you so much for posting it. Have you ever done a lecture about Rabbi Nachman?

[@robbihuffine6626]

The actual process (at 17:27) of Codification is one of the most interesting parts deep in Our Judaism. ✡

[@michaelhebert7338]

thank you

[@simcha1780]

Since I spend a lot of time in Yeshiva learning these Halacha books, it is interesting to know all of their origins; it is also interesting to note that the Shulchan Aruch is not Rav Yosef Karo's magnum opus. I'm interested in how come the Kitzur Shulcha Aruch isn't read so much my the majority of Jews to at least get a basic knowledge of daily life. It is also interesting how the Tzvat rabbis even made the attempt to recreate Semicha.

[@daniel-meir]

Sad that you studied books without knowing who, when, where, why etc. wrote them.

[@simcha1780]

Daniel Nuriyev na'aseh v'nishma my brother

[@daniel-meir]

***** You're right. Apologies for the stingy comment :(

[@daniel-meir]

You said that there are no 'chief rabbies' in the Arab countries. During the Ottoman empire there was a position of Hahambaşı (חכם בשי) that literary means chief rabbi and who functioned as the chief rabbi of the empire. Haham - this is how rabbis are called in Muslim languages (Turkic, Farsi, Arabic) because the word rabb (רב) means lord and has other connotations, including The Lord. Baş means head.

[@hanahkonvesz]

in the Central Europe we have got chief rabbis since Habsburgs dominated this territory.. Look at the history of the Chief Prague and Chief Bohemian Rabbinate.. for example..

[@AmudGemarain10]

The Ottamens weren't Arabs. They were Turks.

[@daniel-meir]

@@AmudGemarain10 You are correct from the purely ethnic point of view but before the appearance of 'nation states' in Europe, neither Europeans nor Muslims classified themselves ethnically but communally. There were no Arab/Persian/Turkic etc. states. There were states led by specific clans. The populations self identified by the religion + ancestry. You would self identify by being a Muslim, then Sunni then other subtler divisions and your language could be even Greek. At the peak of its size the Ottoman Sultans ruled from Morocco to Iraq and most residents were not Turkic. And if we look at ethnically Arab dynasties, there were chief rabbis. For example, Rambam and his descendants were the chief rabbis in Egypt and there are other examples.

[@markjacobi3537]

Well presented lecturer. Yasher Koach I listened to it from Australia. One thing though the Holy Baal Shem Tov was a huge Talmid Chacham although he didn't leave any Seforim, books. WE know that the Baal Shem Tov's successor The Maggid of Mezrich Tzl was a chavrusta of the famous Pnei Yeshoshua. The Maggid was 'transformed" to bea Chassid after meeting The Baal SHem Tov!

[@abbyedery7077]

I enjoyed learning about this topic but was shocked to learn that Shlomo Molcho became so radical to the point of circumcising himself! This makes me wonder what happened to make him so radical to do something like this to himself. I also learned that he had negative relations with the jewish community because he wanted them to become more radical. This eventually showed how much he was disliked when I learned that he was burned at the stake. I was interested in how Rabbi Yosef Karo was impressed with Shlomo Molcho and how he said that he wished to die the same way Shlomo Molcho died. It was very fascinating at how he idoled him.

[@cybrarian9]

Pardon me, Dr. Abramson, but according to Wikipedia, Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_family) as the head of the Rothschild banking dynasty, was born in the 18th century. So how is it possible for the Rothschild family to support Israel in the 1500's or even the 1600's, in T'sfat or any other part of Israel? There is mention on the Wikipedia page of "The first member of the family who was known to use the name "Rothschild" was Izaak Elchanan Rothschild, born in 1577." Would that person been funding Israel even though they were not technically yet "a dynasty" with the vast accumulated wealth? You may wish to investigate this comment. Regarding Moses Montefiore (24 October 1784 - 28 July 1885 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Montefiore), he, too, was of the same age as the beginnings of the Rothschild dynasty, so neither Montefiore nor the Rothschild family could have had any dealings with Israel a 100 or 200 years before.

[@gadschleider9095]

Correct.could not have been the Rothschilds.

[@davidsutton908]

I’m glad other people caught this mistake . The Rothschilds didn’t play a prominent role until the 18th century. Rather What the Dr meant was people moved to israel due to the escaping of the inquisition , messianic fervor and of “following the money “ The Tibereas Project which was financed by a very Prominent lady who saved Thousands of Jews Senora Dona Garcia. She made a deal with the ottomans to have Jews live in Tibereas….. you can look her up for more info

[@hadjbrahimbennacer7384]

I really love the title of the presentation: "The Kabbalah of the Halakhah"!

[@LawlietL93]

Hi Dr. Abramson, sorry to bother you again. Do you have any word on the Rothschild issue? I'm in my encyclopedia Judaica and it seems they didn't have a presence at that point in history. Am I missing something?

[@HenryAbramsonPhD]

I don’t know what you mean by the “Rothschild issue.” The family wouldn’t develop until centuries after Rabbi Yosef Karp.

[@LawlietL93]

@@HenryAbramsonPhD from @12:55 until about @14:50

[@LawlietL93]

Hi Dr. Abramson, The slides say that Rav Karo's son married the daughter of the Arizal but you spoke out the reverse - that his daughter married the son of the Arizal. Which one is it?

[@HenryAbramsonPhD]

Encyclopaedia Judaica lists a son of Rabbi Karo marrying a daughter of the Arizal.

[@LawlietL93]

@@HenryAbramsonPhD Ok thanks so much!

[@salwabeheiry7717]

You are not only enriched the Jewish community/people but you have enriched my life beyond words. I am not Jewish but trying to be. Thank you so much Rabbi.

[@ryanmahadeo3132]

If there is no flour to make the secret jew bread 🍞 that every explorer need to know how make, then there is no Tora.

[@theowlshowofficial9563]

"He circumcised himself in his twenties....which is fairly extreme behavior". Um.....gee....ya think?🔪😳

[@davidsavage6324]

is Karo syrup named after Josef Karo?

[@lindsaykirkwood2949]

David Savage don’t know but it works great for constipation

[@murrayaronson3753]

His last name is also spelled Caro. I've read that among his descendants are Sir Anthony Caro, the sculptor, and Robert Caro, the journalist, historian, and biographer.

[@wafan13]

A baked apple*

[@HenryAbramsonPhD]

?

[@ejb7969]

@@HenryAbramsonPhD Maybe he means this video is delicious and nutritious ...

[@MrMisspura75]

Hilarious!!!