| Moses Isserles |
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Moses Isserles (or '''Moshe Isserlis''') ( 1520 - 1572 ), was a Rabbi and Talmud ist, renowned for his fundamental work of '' Halakha '' (Jewish law), entitled ''HaMapah'' (lit. "the tablecloth"), a commentary on - and component of - the '' Shulkhan Arukh '' (lit. "the set table"). He is also well known for ''Darkhei Moshe'', a commentary on the '' Tur ''. Moses Isserles is also "the '''ReMA'''" (or "the RAMA") '''רמ״א''', the Hebrew Acronym for Rabbi Moses Isserles. BIOGRAPHY Moses was born in Cracow . His father, Israel (known as Iserl), was a prominent Talmud ist, said to have been independently wealthy, and probably headed the community; his grandfather, Jehiel Luria, was the first Rabbi of Brisk . (In an era which preceded the use of surnames, Moses became known by his patronymic, Isserels (corrupted in English to Isserles).) Isserles studied in Lublin under Rabbi Shalom Shachna , who became his father-in-law. Among his fellow pupils were his relative Solomon Luria (Maharshal), and Chayyim b. Bezalel, an older brother of the Maharal . Rema’s wife died young, at the age of 20 and he later established the " Rema Synagogue " in Cracow in her memory (originally his house, built by his father in his honor—which he gave to the community). He later married the sister of Joseph ben Mordechai Gershon Ha-Kohen. He returned to Cracow about ) to Moses (Isserles) there was none like Moses ". Until the Second World War , thousands of pilgrims visited his grave annually on Lag Ba'omer , his '' Yahrzeit '' (date of death). Not only was Rema a renowned Talmud ic and Legal Scholar , he was also learned in Kabbalah , and studied History , Astronomy and Philosophy . He taught that “the aim of man is to search for the cause and the meaning of things” ("Torath ha-Olah" III., vii.). He also held that "it is permissible to now and then study secular wisdom, provided that this excludes works of heresy... and that one {Link without Title} knows what is permissible and forbidden, and the Rules and the Mitzvot " ( Shulkhan Arukh , Yoreh De'ah , 246, 4). Maharshal reproached him for having based some of his decisions on Aristotle . His reply was that he studied Greek Philosophy only from Maimonides ’ '' Guide For The Perplexed '', and then only on Shabbat and Yom Tov (holy days) - and furthermore, it is better to occupy oneself with philosophy than to err through Kabbalah ( Responsa No. 7). Amongst his many notable descendants are the composers Felix Mendelssohn and Giacomo Meyerbeer . WORKS ''Darkhei Moshe'' (דרכי משה) is a commentary on the '' Tur '' as well as on the '' Beth Yosef '', which is Yosef Karo's commentary on the ''Tur'' and the work underlying the ''Shulkhan Arukh''. Isserles had originally intended the ''Darkhei Moshe'' to serve as a basis for subsequent ''halakhic'' decisions. As such, in this work he evaluates the rulings of the ''Tur'' - which was widely accepted among the Ashkenazi m and Sephardi m - comparing these with rulings of other ''halakhic'' Authorities . The ''Beth Yosef'' was published while Isserles was at work on the ''Darkhei Moshe''. Recognizing that Karo's commentary largely met these objectives, Isserles published the ''Darkhei Moshe'' in a modified form. An abridgement of the original work is published with the ''Tur''. The complete version of the ''Darkhei Moshe'' is published separately. ''HaMapah'' (המפה) is written as a , Asher Ben Jehiel (the Rosh), and Isaac Alfasi (the Rif). Of these, only Asher ben Jehiel had non- Sephardic roots, having lived most of his life in Germany before moving to Spain , but even so his work is largely Sephardic in orientation. Isserles thus created a series of Gloss es, in which he supplemented Karo with material drawn from the laws and customs ( ''Minhagim'' ) of Ashkenazi Jewry - chiefly based on the works of Yaakov Moelin , Israel Isserlein and Israel Bruna . All editions of the ''Shulchan Arukh'' since 1578 include ''HaMapah'' embedded in the text (introduced by הגה ''Hagahah'', "gloss"), and distinguished by a semi-cursive " Rashi Script ". Today, "''Shulchan Arukh''" refers to the combined work of Karo and Isserles. This consolidation of the two works strengthened the underlying unity of the Sephardi and Ashkenazi communities. It is through this unification that the ''Shulkhan Arukh'' became the universally accepted Code Of Law for the entire Jewish People . Rabbi Isserles also wrote:
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