Organizing the commandments of the Torah into a code, in order to facilitate understanding and carrying them out, has always been a goal of our sages. The Mishnah was the first compendium of our teachers’ commentaries on the mitzvoth. The Talmud, composed of the Mishnah and its complement the Gemarah, was finally canonized in the 6th century.

But the rabbis were not satisfied with the laws – halacha – set out in the Talmud. From Babylon they promulgated new responsa on practices and interpretations of the commandments that were incorporated into the Talmud, such as those of Rabbi Isaac Alfasi in the 11th century.

In the 12th century, Maimonides wrote a code organized by topics and where he only presented the conclusions on each topic discussed by our sages, without mentioning the details of the discussion or the teachers who participated in it. Maimonides intended his Mishneh Torah to become a universal guide for the practice of Judaism, but it was met with much criticism, especially from scholars in Europe.

In the 14th century, Asher ben Yehiel, a rabbi who lived in Germany and Spain and was therefore familiar with the customs of both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews, decreed that no decision could be made on the basis of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah alone, but that the Talmud itself had to be consulted first before a verdict could be given. Nevertheless, his son, Jacob ben Asher, developed a new code based on Alfasi’s commentaries, those of his father, and those of Maimonides. He called it Arba Turim, the four rows, and grouped the laws into four categories: Orach Hayim, the path of life (on prayer and holidays), Yoreh Deah, teacher of knowledge (kashrut and mourning), Eben Haezer, the rock of society (marriage), and Hoshen Mishpat, the shield of judgment (civil matters).

In the 16th century, Joseph Caro initially wrote a detailed commentary on the Arba Turim, which eventually became the Shulchan Aruch, a halachic code that means “the table set or served” and that followed the same format as the Arba Turim. The Shulchan Aruch eventually became the most widely accepted compendium of halachic laws to this day.

However, the good intention of facilitating the practice of Judaism in a series of clear and concrete rules compiled in a code can make us lose sight of the origin and the true background of these rules and how to observe the commandments of the Torah. It’s like sitting down to eat without considering or knowing everything that was done by those who prepared the dishes that are served to us. We can enjoy the food, but we can’t create new dishes. Sometimes it’s not so good to just come and have the table set. Every now and then you have to go into the kitchen.

By Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: The Jewish Almanac, edited by Richard Siegel and Carl Rheins