Though barely bar mitzvah when he was expelled from Spain, Rabbi Yosef Caro went on to become not only the greatest scholar of his generation, but among the greatest in all Jewish history. Rabbi Wein recounts the controversial attempt to revive the Sanhedrin and shows how Rabbi Caro's encyclopedic work Shulchan Aruch became a substitute Sanhedrin, the Code of Jewish Law for every Jewish home.

• the Torah giants of 16th century Safed
• Rabbi Yaakov Beirav and the Sanhedrin
• the little-known mystical side of Rav Yosef Caro
• the role of the printing press in distributing this great work
• how the Rema's additions made the Shulchan Aruch universal

For more on this subject, check out the brand new lecture on Rav Caro and the Rema, #1276 in "A Difference of Opinion."