Joseph Karo and Shaping of Modern Jewish Law

Roni Weinstein teaches at the Hebrew University, Foreign Students Program.

• Introduction: Methodology, Questions, and Scope; Chapter One The Importance of Being Canonized; Chapter Two The Preamble to Beit Yosef: Manifesto of a Jurist; Chapter Three “Maran” [Our Master] Joseph Karo; Chapter Four Semikhah Polemics in Safed: Establishing a Guild of Jurists; Chapter Five R. Karo in Safed: Establishing a Dominant Status; Chapter Six Law and Mysticism: An Envitable Encounter; Chapter Seven “Provide Me with the Reasoning for your Verdict”: The Prestige and Status of Jewish Courts; Chapter Eight Establishing an International Court of Law; Chapter Nine Summary: Scope and Perspectives; Bibliographical List; Index

“Roni Weinstein’s cross-denominational approach to Yossef Karo’s legal corpus is undoubtedly a turning point for scholars of Jewish and Ottoman legal traditions. This thorough book carefully maps out the Ottoman and broader Mediterranean contexts of Karo’s legal oeuvre, giving historians of Ottoman Islamic law much to consider.” – Guy Burak, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Librarian at NYU’s Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, USA.