1. Moses Isserles, known by the acronym Rema, was an eminent Polish Ashkenazi rabbi, talmudist, and posek.
17 Facts About Moses Isserles
1. 2.
Moses Isserles's father, Israel ben Josef, was a prominent talmudist and independently wealthy, who had probably headed the community; his grandfather, Jehiel Luria, was the first rabbi of Brisk.
3.
Moses Isserles later married the sister of Joseph ben Mordechai Gershon Ha-Kohen.
4.
Moses Isserles returned to Krakow in 1549, establishing a large yeshiva where as a wealthy man, he supported his pupils.
5.
Moses Isserles was approached by many other well-known rabbis, including Yosef Karo, for Halachic decisions.
6.
Moses Isserles was one of the greatest Jewish scholars of Poland, and was the primary halakhic authority for European Jewry of his day.
7.
Moses Isserles died in Krakow and was buried next to his synagogue.
8.
On his tombstone is inscribed: "From Moses to Moses there was none like Moses".
9.
Not only was Isserles a renowned Talmudic and legal scholar, but he was learned in Kabbalah and studied history, astronomy, and philosophy.
10.
Moses Isserles stated that philosophy should be learned only "sporadically", and that religious scripture should always be held in a higher esteem.
11.
Moses Isserles represented the pro-philosophy aspect of study, while Luria was more critical.
12.
Moses Isserles's reply was that he studied Greek philosophy only from Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed, and then only on Shabbat and Yom Tov - and furthermore, it is better to occupy oneself with philosophy than to err through Kabbalah.
13.
Moses Isserles is perhaps best known for his halakhic works, chief among them his notes to the Shulchan Aruch by Yosef Karo.
14.
Moses Isserles had originally intended the Darkhei Moshe to serve as a basis for subsequent halakhic decisions.
15.
The Beth Yosef was published while Moses Isserles was at work on the Darkhei Moshe.
16.
Moses Isserles thus created a series of glosses, in which he supplemented Karo with material drawn from the laws and customs of Ashkenazi Jewry, chiefly based on the works of Yaakov Moelin, Israel Isserlein and Israel Bruna.
17.
Rather than challenge the status of the Shulhan 'Arukh Moses Isserles established the status of the Shulhan 'Arukh as the authoritative text.