Shulḥān Arukh

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Shulḥān Arukh (Heb., ‘the prepared table’). Code of Jewish halakhah (law) written by Joseph Caro. The Shulḥān Arukh is a synopsis of Jacob b. Asher's Arbaʿah Turim. Its four parts deal with the daily and Sabbath Commandments, laws governing everyday life (e.g. dietary laws, purity, mourning), laws of marriage and divorce and, finally, civil and criminal law. It was first printed in 1565, and after amendments for the Ashkenazim had been added by Moses Isserles, it became accepted as the most authoritative code of Jewish law.