In Spain, in 1488, was born a certain Joseph Caro. Whilst he was quite a child his parents left Spain, and taking Joseph with them, wandered about from place to place, till they finally settled in Nikopolis in Turkey. The boy was taught Bible and Talmud by his father, and showed from the first great industry and some talent. Presently he went to Adrianople, where he wrote his first work, which was a commentary on the אַרְבַּע טוּרים. Subsequently he wrote the שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּךְ (A table prepared), which was an amplification of his first work, and, like it, had its inspiration in the Code of Laws formulated by a long dead and gone Rabbi Jacob, the son of Rabbenu Asher. The שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּךְ has become the standard authority for Jewish ritual and ceremonial Law. It is divided into four parts: 1. אֹרַח חַיִּים (Path of life). On Prayer, Sabbaths, festivals, and fasts. 2. יוֹרֶה דֵּעָה (Teaching knowledge). Dietary and other domestic laws. 3. אֶבֶן הָעֶזֶר (Stone of help). Marriage laws. 4. חשֶׁן מִשְׁפָט (Breastplate of judgment). Civil laws. Notes were added to the שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּךְ of Rabbi Joseph Caro by a Polish Talmudical authority, named Rabbi Moses Isserles. He was an author himself, and his decisions had great weight with his Polish and German co-religionists, but were not accepted by the Portuguese Jews. Joseph Caro, before his death in 1575, had an attack from the Kabbala fever which was so prevalent in those days. Under its influence he emigrated to Palestine, and joined the sect of Kabbalists. He was elected Rabbi of Saphed, and in possession of that dignity he died. A contemporary of Caro’s, who lived in Saphed, was the author of the beautiful Friday night song, לְכָה דוֹדִי: ‘Come, my beloved, to meet the Bride, the approaching Sabbath we will receive.’ His name was Solomon Alkabez. Azariah de Rossi, born at Mantua in 1511, was one of the great Jewish-Italian scholars of the sixteenth century. He was learned in all branches of literature and science. His wide knowledge and his critical powers are apparent in his work טְאוֹר עִינים (Light of the Eyes), a collection of critical essays on various topics of Jewish archæology and history. He freely and fearlessly compared statements in Talmud and Midrash with those found in other works, Jewish and un-Jewish. Among other subjects De Rossi discussed the Jewish chronology, and did not hesitate to declare it faulty. Among his Jewish contemporaries he did not find many admirers, but his works long after his death (1578) received at last that place in Hebrew literature which they richly deserve.