Yosef Caro Synagogue Safed

{{Infobox
|title = Josef Karo Synagogue
|image        = [[File:00000289 inside yosef karo shul tzfas.jpg|215px|alt=Josef Karo Synagogue]]
|header1 = Hebrew:
|data2  = בית כנסת הרב יוסף קארו צפת
|header3 = Spelling:
|data4  = Josef, Joseph, Josif, Caro, Qaro, Karo, Koro
|header5 = Other Names:
|data6   = Karo Shul, Karo Beit Knesset
|header7 = Description:
|data8   = Old synagogue in Safed, Israel previously used by Rabbi Yosef Caro.
}}

The '''Joseph Caro Synagogue''', located on [[Art-Gallery-Street-Safed|Alkabetz Street]] in [[Safed|Tzfat’s]] [[Old City Safed|Old City]], is housed in the location of the former Tzfas Beit Din that was headed by [[Rabbi Yosef Karo|Rabbi Joseph Caro]]. [[Rabbi Yosef Karo|Rabbi Yosef (Joseph) Caro]] was a master of Jewish Law, authoring the [[Shulchan Aruch|Shulhan Aruch]] and the [[Beit Yosef]]. Some of his writing was done in a room located underneath the Karo Synagogue. Later the robnical court turned study hall was destroyed in the [[Safed 1837 Earthquake|1837 earthquake]], and was rebuilt by Italian philanthropist Isaac Guetta. The Yosef Caro Shul contains several old Torah scrolls and a 'Geniza' section of ancient manuscripts. On Shabbos, the Caro Shul operates Sephardi minyanim and during the week it is open to tourists.

== Rabbi Yosef Caro ==

[[Rabbi Yosef Karo|Rabbi Yosef Caro]] was a scion of a family that fled Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. The family settled in Turkey and it was there that Rabbi Caro developed into a renowned scholar. He was drawn to Kabbalistic teachings and in his late 40's, made his way to Safed where he established a House of Study.  

[[File:00000294-yosef-caro-synagogue-ark.jpg|thumb|180px|left|The synagogue Torah Ark.]]Rabbi Caro compiled an extensive overview of Jewish law and practice in his book the “[[Bais Yosef|Beit Yosef]],” an extensive overview of Halacha. The work lays out the Talmudic source of each law, its development from Biblical and Talmudic sources, the subsequent rabbinical discussions and rulings and the differing views among sages and rabbis. Rabbi Caro later summed up each section by noting the current status of each Halacha in his monumental work the '[[Shulchan Aruch]]'.

Rabbi Caro went on to head the Rabbinical Court -- the Beit Din -- in Tzfat for many years. He served as the Chief Rabbi of the nearby town of [[Biriya]] where he lived for some time. He is revered as the figure whose scholarship reunited the Jewish World in adherence to the Torah’s precepts after the turmoil of the Spanish Expulsion.

[[File:more.jpg|link=]] '''Read full Zissil article on [[Rabbi Yosef Karo]]'''

=== Shulhan Aruch ===

[[File:00000288 josef karo synagogue ceiling.jpg|thumb|180px|right|Lights on the shul ceiling.]] Rabbi Caro based his next work, the “[[Shulchan Aruch|Shulhan Aruch]]” on the scholarship of the Beit Yosef. He intended that the Shulhan Aruch would help Jews maintain their Jewish laws and rituals in the face of the upheavals caused by the expulsions of the Inquisition. Rabbi Caro recognized that the 15th century Jewish World was scattered and in disarray. He dreamed of creating a basic guide that would provide the essential information which would allow Jews to follow the Halachot in the correct fashion as many communities emerged without rabbinic leadership.

Using the Beit Yosef as his source, Rabbi Caro sat in a small room in Tsfat and synthesized  the Beit Yosef into the Shulchan Aruch. The The Shulchan Aruch -- Set Table -- lays out each of Judaism’s Halachot. It reviews the sources and provides a succinct summary that guides Jews in the proper observance of each and every Jewish Law.

The Shulhan Aruch was written according to the Sepharadi traditions of Halacha. A subsequent addendum by Rabbi Moses Isserles, the “Mappah” (Tablecloth) accompanies the Shulhan Aruch with the inclusion of Ashkanazi Halachot.

[[File:more.jpg|link=]] '''Read full Zissil article on the [[Shulchan Aruch]]'''

== Yosef Caro Synagogue ==

[[File:00000292 open aron kodesh yosef caro shul.jpg|thumb|100px|left|The Caro Aron Kodesh.]] The Yosef Caro Synagogue in Tzfat marks the spot where Rabbi Yosef Caro headed the Beit Din during his tenure as the “Av Beit Din of Tzfat” -- Head of the Rabbinical Court. The synagogue was destroyed in the [[Safed 1837 Earthquake|1837 earthquake]] and was rebuilt through the generosity of Isaac Guetta, an Italian Jew who funded the restoration of several [[Tzfat Synagogues|Tzfat synagogues]] following the earthquake. Guetta imported Italian stone for the synagogue’s floor. The Caro synagogue has several old Torah scrolls which are still in use, including a 200 year-old Persian scroll, a 300 year-old Iraqi scroll and a 500 year-old scroll from Spain. The glassed-in bookshelves along the synagogue walls are the synagogue’s “Geniza”, storing sacred written works. Since the early 20th century the Ben Shimon family has served as the synagogue’s caretakers. They open the synagogue for visitors and maintain it. Currently the Karo Shul runs Minyonim on Shabbos using Nusach Edut HaMizrach / Sepharadi and is especially known for its early Kabbalas Shabbos minyan during the Summer days.

== More Pictures==

<gallery widths=180px heights=120px perrow=4 caption="Yosef Caro Synagogue Photo Gallery">

File:00000293 beit knesset yosef karo.jpg
File:00000290-old-sefarim-yosef-caro-synagogue.jpg
File:00000310 caro shul women section.jpg
File:00000296 bima josef caro synagogue.jpg
File:00000295 entrance josef caro synagogue.jpg

</gallery>

{{Tzfat Synagogues}}
{{Kivrei Tzadikim}}
{{Safed History}}

[[Category:Old Synagogues]]
[[Category:Safed]]
[[Category:Kivray Tzadikim]]