Joseph Caro
1488 – 1575 Spanish-born, Ottoman (Sephardic Jewish) Rabbi, legal codifier, kabbalist
Author of the Shulchan Aruch, the code that remains the standard guide to Jewish law.
- Religion
- Judaism (Rabbinic, with Kabbalah)
- Affiliations
- Safed, Ottoman Galilee
Born to a family that fled the Spanish expulsion, Caro settled in Safed, which became a center of Jewish mysticism. His 'Shulchan Aruch' (Set Table) distilled Jewish law into a practical code that is still authoritative today. He also kept a mystical diary describing a heavenly mentor, the 'Maggid', that spoke through him.