18 Iyar · Yahrzeit
Rabbi Moshe Isserles - the Rema
Rabbi Moshe Isserles - the Rema - author of the "Mappah" on the "Shulchan Aruch"
Yahrzeit - 18 Iyar
Burial place - Remuh Cemetery, Krakow, Poland
Chief rabbi of the Jewish community of Krakow, Poland. He was a major halachic authority and wrote the "Mappah" on the "Shulchan Aruch". Rabbi Moshe Isserles, widely known as the Rema (an acronym of his name), was a descendant of a well-known and wealthy family. His father and grandfather were leaders of the Jewish community. The famous Rema Shul, a synagogue in Krakow built by his father, survived the Holocaust.
As a child he was known as an illui (a prodigy). He studied in Lublin at the famous yeshiva of Shalom Shachna, where he met his first wife, Shachna's daughter. Isserles later remarried, this time to the sister of Yosef ben Mordechai Gershon HaKohen.
As rabbi of Krakow, he worked very actively to spread the knowledge of Torah and founded a prestigious yeshiva. The Rema was among the first to establish the spiritual preeminence of Polish Jewry. It is said that the Rema is the Maimonides of Polish Jewry.
He lived in the era of the codification of the Talmud and corresponded with Rabbi Yosef Karo, author of the "Shulchan Aruch," the most influential work in this field. The Rema was both an admirer and a critic of the "Shulchan Aruch," disapproving of the fact that its rulings were based primarily on the decisions of Sephardic authorities, excluding Ashkenazic customs and traditions.
He composed a commentary on those passages of the "Shulchan Aruch" where he disagreed with the author, setting out the halacha as accepted by Ashkenazic authorities, which is binding upon Ashkenazic Jews. It should be noted that these halachic differences concern only secondary matters of custom and tradition.
The Rema called his glosses the Mappah ("Tablecloth"), as a "covering" for the Shulchan Aruch ("Set Table"). These glosses were incorporated into the text and are distinguished by being printed in Rashi script.
This union of the two works symbolizes the fundamental unity of the Sephardic and Ashkenazic communities. It is precisely through this union that the Shulchan Aruch became universally accepted by the entire Jewish people.
Not only was the Rema well versed in the Talmud, he also studied Kabbalah and Jewish mystical texts.
He is considered one of the forerunners of the Jewish enlightenment.
He wrote 33 books and was buried next to his synagogue.
Every year on 18 Iyar - Lag BaOmer (the anniversary of his passing) - 1,000 pilgrims visited his grave, up until World War II.
May the merit of the tzadik protect Am Yisrael!
(https://dailyzohar.com/tzadikim/213-Rabbi-Moshe-Isserles)