Jacob ben Asher

Jacob ben Asher (born 1269?, Cologne? [Germany]—died 1340?, Toledo, Castile [Spain]) was a Jewish scholar whose codification of Jewish law was considered standard until the publication in 1565 of the Shulḥan ʿarukh (“The Well-Laid Table”) by Joseph Karo.

Little of certainty is known about Jacob’s life. In 1303 he immigrated to Spain with his brothers and father, the great codifier Asher ben Jehiel, who became chief rabbi of Toledo. Although Jacob was eminently qualified, he never became a rabbi. Instead, it is likely that he eked out an existence as a moneylender.

Jacob is best known for his code Arbaʿa ṭurim (“Four Rows”; first published in its entirety in 1475 and also known as Ṭur), which systematically divided all Jewish law into four “rows,” or classes, a new arrangement that became classic. He is therefore called Baʿal ha-Ṭurim (“Master of the Rows”). His four divisions are: (1) Oraḥ ḥayyim (“Path of Life”), dealing with laws governing prayer and ritual; (2) Yore deʿa (“Teacher of Knowledge”), setting forth the laws concerning things that are permitted or forbidden, such as dietary laws; (3) Even ha-ʿezer (“Stone of Help”), containing the laws governing family relations, such as marriage and divorce; and (4) Ḥoshen mishpaṭ (“Breastplate of Judgment”), epitomizing civil and criminal law. Jacob eliminated all laws and customs that had been rendered obsolete by the destruction of the Second Temple (ad 70).

Revealing a marked indebtedness to his father’s code, Jacob’s austere digest became, after the Bible, the most popular work among 15th-century Jews and the usual basis for rabbinic decisions. It departed from his father’s code and from that of Maimonides by basing the preponderance of its laws on decisions by post-Talmudic rabbinical authorities rather than on the Talmud itself.