Caro, Joseph ben Ephraim

Caro or Karo, Joseph ben Ephraim, 1488-1575, eminent Jewish codifier of law, b. Toledo, Spain. He left Spain as a child when the Jews were expelled (1492) and finally settled in Safed, Palestine. His literary works rank among the masterpieces of rabbinical literature. Chief among them are the Bet Yosef [house of Joseph] and Shulhan Aruk [the table set], parts of which are still used as the authoritative code for Orthodox religious and legal disputes. This code owes its fame and popularity as much to the opposition it aroused and the many commentaries it inspired as it does to its merits. Caro was also a noted kabbalist (see kabbalah) who claimed to have had heavenly visitations. He recorded much of this in a diary later edited to appear as a commentary on the Pentateuch (Maggid Mesharim, 1646).

(born 1488, Spain—died March 24, 1575, Safed, Palestine) Spanish-born Jewish scholar. When the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, he and his parents settled in Turkey. Around 1536 he emigrated to Safed in Palestine, where he studied the Talmud and systematized the vast body of material produced by post-Talmudic writers. He was the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the House of Joseph, which was later condensed as The Well-Laid Table and is still authoritative for Orthodox Judaism.

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Caro may refer to:

Places

• Caro, Michigan
• Caro, Morbihan
• Çaro, Pyrénées-Atlantiques

People

• Annibale Caro, poet
• Anthony Caro, sculptor
• Elme Marie Caro, philosopher
• Heinrich Caro, industrial chemist
• Horatio Caro, chess player
• Isabelle Caro, French actress
• Joseph ben Ephraim Caro (Yosef Karo), rabbi
• Nydia Caro, Puerto Rican singer
• Niki Caro, film director, producer and screenwriter
• Nikodem Caro, industrial chemist
• Marc Caro, filmmaker
• Mike Caro, professional poker player and instructor
• Robert Caro, biographer
• Caro Best, famous German singer

Others

• CARO, The Computer AntiVirus Researcher's Organization
• Caro Instant Beverage, a drink by Nestlé
• Caro-Kann Defence in chess
• Caro Ru Lushe, a fictional character in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS
• The FSO Polonez, a car known in some countries as the Caro
• Peroxymonosulfuric acid, also known as Caro's acid