Joseph Karo

Rabbi
Joseph Karo
יוסף קארו
Portrait by Meir Kunstadt, early 1900s
Titleהַמְחַבֵּר HaMechaber
מָרַן Maran
Personal life
BornJoseph ben Ephraim Karo
1488 (1488)
DiedMarch 24, 1575(1575-03-24) (aged 86–87)
BuriedSafed Old Jewish Cemetery
Signature
Religious life
ReligionJudaism

Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro (Hebrew: יוסף קארו; 1488 – March 24, 1575, 13 Nisan 5335 A.M.), was a prominent Sephardic Jewish rabbi renowned as the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Beit Yosef, and its popular analogue, the Shulhan Arukh. Karo is regarded as the preeminent halakhic authority of his time, and is often referred to by the honorific titles HaMechaber (Hebrew: הַמְחַבֵּר, lit.'the author') and Maran (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: מָרַן, lit.'our master').