The Acceptance of the Shulhan Arukh and the Invention of Printing

Rabbi Mintz on Jewish History - Glimpses into the religious Lives of Early Modern European Jewry

The Shulhan Arukh was first printed in Venice in 1564. The lecture will explore whether the code of Rabbi Joseph Caro was immediately accepted as authoritative among the Jews of the Spanish diaspora and the role that this code played in the unification of these Jews in the century following the expulsion from Spain. The code of Rabbi Moses Isserles was printed alongside the Shulhan Arukh for the first time in Cracow in 1569-71. We will explore the role of printing in the opposition in Ashkenaz to this code and the innovation of the Rema to the history of codification.