Menachem Mendel

While teaching a class the other day I came across an interesting note in Menachem Elon’s magnum opus Jewish Law : History, Sources, Principles. In his discussion of R. Yosef Caro’s Beit Yosef, Elon quotes extensively from Karo’s introduction to this work. At the end of a long list of authorities whom he will cite, Caro writes

All their statements will be fully explained; and in, a few instances, passages from the Zohar [will be quoted].
(Elon, 1316)

The influence of the Zohar on halakhah in general and Caro in particular has been discussed by many. See the work of Moshe Hallamish and Jacob Katz. What caught my eye was Elon’s comment on Caro’s inclusion of the Zohar. (Ibid., n. 23)

The reference to the Zohar, a major kabbalistic work, in a purely halakhic work such as Bet Yosef must be viewed in light of the circumstances of Jewish life in the sixteenth century. At that time, some of the greatest kabbalists flourished in Safed, the major city of the Galilee; they were led by Isaac Luria (known by his acronym as “Ari” ha-Kadosh-the Holy “Lion”), his colleagues, and his disciples; and a kabbalistic work, known as Maggid Meisharim, has even been attributed to Caro himself. However, the carefully restrained way in which Caro stated that he would quote “in a few instances…from the Zohar” indicates the limited influence that mysticism and Kabbalah had on Caro’s halakhic work. In any case, Caro was explicit that statements in the Zohar are not to be given any weight “when they conflict with the Talmud or its commentators”…

I think that from these words one can sense the discomfort of Elon from the possibility that Caro might have been influenced by the Kabbalah and mysticism.

Posted on March 12th, 2009 under Jewish Law, Rabbinic Authority, Rabbinic Literature • RSS 2.0 feed • You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed