ר׳ משה איסרליש

ר׳ משה בן ישראל איסרליש (c.1530–1572), the רמ״א, was Kraków’s leading rabbi and the decisive codifier of Ashkenazi practice in early modern Europe. Born into a wealthy communal family, he studied in Lublin under ר׳ שלום שכנא and returned to Kraków while still young to serve on its rabbinical court and lead a major yeshiva. His דרכי משה supplements the בית יוסף of ר׳ יוסף קארו with Ashkenazi authorities and customs. When שולחן ערוך appeared, his concise glosses, known as המפה, integrated those traditions into the code; their inclusion made the work broadly authoritative across both Sephardi and Ashkenazi communities. His scholarship extended beyond practical halakhah to philosophy, Kabbalah, biblical interpretation, custom, and astronomy. תורת חטאת systematised dietary and ritual law, while תורת העולה interpreted the Temple and sacrifices philosophically and kabbalistically. His independent responsa document the legal, economic, and communal life of sixteenth-century Polish Jewry. He corresponded with ר׳ יוסף קארו and debated leading contemporaries including ר׳ שלמה לוריא. He died in Kraków on 18 Iyar 5332 and was buried beside the synagogue founded by his family in Kazimierz; both the Remuh Synagogue and his grave remain major landmarks.