Mappah of the Rema

. . . One of the basic texts in the Polish schools was the Tur [short for Rabbi Yaakov ben Asher's compendium of Jewish law, Arba'ah Turim], and the Rema decided to write to it a commentary to clarify its sources and bring it up-to-date. However, when Karo's Bet Yosef [critical analysis of, and commentary on, the Tur] reached Poland, he [Rema] was dismayed; the work had already been done, and in exemplary fashion, by Karo. Upon second thought, however, Rema decided to publish his commentary, which he called Darkhei Moshe, since Bet Yosef ignored many of the teachings and minhagim of the Ashkenazim. Once Karo published his summary of the Bet Yosef as the Shulhan Arukh, Rema decided to add to it his hagahot, his notes, to set down the Ashkenazic practice. He called these notes a mapah, a tablecloth covering the "set table" of Karo. Together they constitute the authoritative Code of Jewish Practice; the Sephardim following the decisions of Karo, called the mehaber or "composer" of the Shulhan Arukh, and the Ashkenazim following the decisions of Rema (153).

ISSLERLES, MOSES (1520 - 1572)

. . . [H]is chief work is held to be his notes (Mappah, "Table Cloth"), to Joseph Karo's code, Shulhan Arukh ("The Prepared Table"); and the two together, Karo's code and the notes of Isserles, became the accepted general code of Jewish life in the Ashkenazic Jewish communities. Karo's basic text detailed the Sephardic practices. Isserles was a beloved teacher and revered for his saintliness and learning. The following words, inscribed on his tombstone in Cracow, "From Moses to Moses there was none like Moses," imply that from Maimonides to Isserles no others were equal in learning and character (228-228).

Works Cited

• Lewittes, Mendell. Jewish Law: An Introduction (Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1994).
  
  
• Bridger, David, ed. The New Jewish Encyclopedia (New York: Behrman House, Inc., 1976).