Editing Joseph Karo (section)

==Published works==
[[File:Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia e9 327-0.jpg|thumb|250px|Title page of Karo's ''[[Shulchan Aruch]]'']]
Karo's literary works are considered among the masterpieces of [[rabbinic literature]]. He published during his lifetime:
* ''[[Beit Yosef (book)|Beit Yosef]]'' (בית יוסף), a commentary on ''[[Arba'ah Turim]]'', the current work of [[halakha|Jewish law]] in his days. In this commentary Karo shows an astounding mastery over the Talmud and the legalistic literature of the Middle Ages. He felt called upon to systematize the laws and customs of Judaism in face of the disintegration caused by the Spanish expulsion.
* ''[[Shulchan Aruch]]'' (שולחן ערוך), a condensation of his decisions in ''Beth Yosef''. Finished in 1555, this code was published in four parts in 1565.<ref name="Britannica">{{EB1911|wstitle= Qaro, Joseph ben Ephraim |volume= 22 |last= Abrahams |first= Israel |author-link= Israel Abrahams | page= 706 |quote=...his second work, the Shulḥan ’Arukh (“Table Prepared”). Finished in 1555, this code was published in four parts in 1565}}.</ref>
* ''Kessef Mishneh'' (כסף משנה) (written in Nikopol, published [[Venice]], 1574–75), a commentary of ''[[Mishneh Torah]]'' by [[Maimonides]]. In the introduction, Karo writes that his goal was to quote the source of each law in the Mishneh Torah, and to defend the work from the criticisms of the Ravad, Rabbi [[Abraham ben David]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sefaria.org/Kessef_Mishneh_on_Mishneh_Torah,_Hiring?lang=bi|title=Kessef Mishneh on Mishneh Torah|date=January 14, 2019|publisher=[[Sefaria]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/כסף_משנה|title=Sefer Kessef Mishneh|publisher=[[Wikisource]]|language=he|date=January 14, 2019}}</ref>

After his death there appeared:
* ''Bedek ha-Bayit'' (בדק הבית) (Salonica, 1605), supplements and corrections to ''Beth Yosef'';
* ''Kelalei ha-Talmud'' (כללי התלמוד) (Salonica, 1598), on the methodology of the [[Talmud]];
* ''Avkath Rochel'' (אבקת רוכל) (Salonica, 1791), [[Responsa]]
* ''Maggid Meisharim'' (מגיד מישרים) (Lublin, 1646), and supplements ([[Venice]], 1646)
* ''Derashot'' (דרשות) (Salonica, 1799), speeches, in the collection 'Oz Tzaddikim'.

===''Maggid Meisharim''===
{{Main|Maggid Mesharim}}
The ''Maggid Meisharim'' (1646, ''Preacher of Righteousness'') is a mystical diary in which Karo during a period of fifty years recorded the nocturnal visits of an angelic being, his heavenly mentor, the personified [[Mishna]] (the authoritative collection of Jewish Oral Law). His visitor spurred him to acts of righteousness and even asceticism, exhorted him to study the Kabbala, and reproved him for moral laxities.