Aruch HaShulchan

Aruch HaShulchan (Hebrew: ערוך השולחן) is a chapter-by-chapter restatement of the Shulchan Aruch (the latter being the most influential codification of halakhah in the post-Talmudic era). Compiled and written by Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein (1829–1908), the work attempts to be a clear, organized summary of the sources for each chapter of the Shulchan Aruch and its commentaries, with special emphasis on the positions of the Jerusalem Talmud and Maimonides.

The title "Aruch HaShulchan" ("the table is set") is a clear allusion to the Shulchan Aruch ("the set table"), on which it draws, and to Aroch ha-Shulchan from the Tanakh (Book of Isaiah 21:5). The Shulchan Aruch, authored in Safed by Yosef Karo in 1563, is a contemporary record of Sephardi laws and customs at the time and place of its making. Later , HaMapah, annotations for Ashkenazi Jews by Moses Isserles, was included in all editions of the Shulchan Aruch since 1578, embedded in the text and distinguished by a semi-cursive "Rashi script".

In Aruch HaShulchan, Rabbi Epstein cites the source of each law as found in the Talmud and Maimonides, and states the halakhic decision as found in the Shulchan Aruch with the glosses of Rema. When he deems it necessary, he also mentions the views of other Rishonim (early, pre-1550 authorities), and especially Acharonim (later authorities), occasionally disagreeing with the latter.

The work follows the structure of the Tur and the Shulchan Aruch: A division into four large parts, subdivided into parallel chapters (simanim) that match in all three works. These are further subdivided into paragraphs (se'ifim), but the latter do not match in the three works (the Tur has no official se'ifim at all, and the se'ifim of the Shulchan Aruch do not match that of the Aruch HaShulchan).

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