Rabbi Joseph ben Ephraim Caro, also spelled Yosef Karo, or Qaro, (Toledo, 1488 – Safed, 1575) was author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, which is still authoritative for all Jews pertaining to their respective communities. To this end he is often referred to as ha-Mechaber (Hebrew: "The Author") and as Maran (Aramaic: "Our Master").

Rabbi Caro was born in Toledo, Spain in 1488. In 1492, aged four years old, he was forced to flee Spain with his family and the rest of Spanish Jewry because of Jewish persecution in the Spanish Inquisition and subsequently settled in Portugal. After the expulsion of the Jews from Portugal in 1497, Caro went with his parents to Nikopolis in current day Bulgaria, where he received his first instruction from his father, who was himself an eminent Talmudist. He married, first, Isaac Saba's daughter, and, after her death, the daughter of Hayyim Albalag, both of these men being well-known Talmudists. After the death of his second wife he married the daughter of Zechariah Sachsel, a learned and wealthy Talmudist.

Already as a young man, he gained a reputation as a brilliant Torah scholar. He began by writing an explanation on the Rambam's Mishneh Torah. He called his work the Kesef Mishnah. Here he cited and explained Rambam's sources. Between 1520 and 1522 Caro settled at Adrianople. He decided to emigrated to the Holy Land so that he could immerse himself in its sanctity and complete his written works. He spent several years at Salonica, where he met the great kabbalist Rabbi Yosef Taitatzak. He continued his journey to the Holy Land via Egypt and eventually settled in Safed around 1535.

At Safed he met Rabbi Jacob Berab, who exerted a great influence upon him, Caro becoming an enthusiastic supporter of Berab's plans for the restitution of semicha (rabbinical ordination). After Berab's death Rabbi Caro tried to carry out these plans. He was soon appointed a member of the rabbinical court of the city in the Beth Din of the famous Rabbi Yaakov Beirav. When the latter re-instituted semicha, which had been in abeyance for over 11 centuries, Rabbi Karo was one of the first he ordained. Here, too, Rabbi Caro established a yeshiva and taught Torah to scores of eager students.

When Rabbi Yaakov Beirav, the leading sage of Safed, passed away, Rabbi Caro was regarded as his successor, and together with Rabbi Moshe of Trani he headed the Rabbinical Court of Safed. In fact, by this time, the Rabbinical Court of Safed had become the central rabbinical court in all of Israel, and indeed of the diaspora as well. Thus there was not a single matter of national or global importance that did not come to the attention and ruling of the Safed Beth Din. Its rulings were accepted as final and conclusive, and Rabbi Caro's halachic decisions and clarifications were sought by sages from every corner of the diaspora. He came to be regarded as the leader of the entire generation.

His reputation during the last thirty years of his life was greater than that of almost any other rabbi since Maimonides. In the East, Rabbi Caro's authority was, if possible, even greater. Rabbi Caro died on the 13 Nissan 5335 (1575) at the age of 87.

Rabbi Caro published during his lifetime: Beth Yosef, a commentary on Arbaah Turim, the current work of Jewish law in his days, Shulchan Aruch, a condensation of his decisions in Beth Yosef, Kesef Mishna, a commentary of Mishna Torah by Maimonides. After his death there appeared: Bedek ha-Bayit, supplements and corrections to Beth Yosef, Kelalei ha-Talmud, on the methodology of the Talmud, Avkat Rachel, Maggid Meisharim, and Derashot. Rabbi Caro also left a commentary upon the Mishna, as well as commentaries to Rashi's and Nahmanides' commentaries on the Torah.

Rabbi Isaac ben Yehuda Abarbanel, (1437 - 1508), commonly referred to as The Abarbanel, was a Portuguese Jewish statesman, philosopher, Bible commentator, and financier. He was born in Lisbon, Portugal into one of the oldest and most distinguished Jewish Iberian families, the Abravanel family, who had escaped persecution in Castile during 1391. A student of the Rabbi of Lisbon, Joseph Chaim also known as Yosef ben Shlomo Ibn Yahya, poet, religious scholar, rebuilder of Ibn Yahya Synagogue of Calatayud, he became well versed in rabbinic literature and in the learning of his time, devoting his early years to the study of Jewish philosophy. Abravanel included Joseph ibn Shem-Tov as his mentor. At twenty years old, he wrote on the original form of the natural elements, on religious questions and prophecy. Together with his intellectual abilities, he showed a complete mastery of financial matters.

Notwithstanding his high position and the great wealth he had inherited from his father, his love for his afflicted brethren was unabated. When Arzila, in Morocco, was captured by the Moors, and the Jewish captives were sold as slaves, he contributed largely to the funds needed to free them, and personally arranged for collections throughout Portugal. He escaped prosecution and moved to Castile in 1483. His large fortune was confiscated by royal decree. At Toledo, his new home, he occupied himself at first with Biblical studies, and in the course of six months produced an extensive commentary on the books of Joshua, Judges, and Samuel. But shortly afterward he entered the service of the house of Castile. When the banishment of the Jews from Spain was ordered with the Alhambra decree, he left Spain and went to Naples. For a short time he lived in peace undisturbed, but when the city was taken by the French, bereft of all his possessions, he went, in 1495, to Messina, then went to Corfu, and in 1496 settled in Monopoli, and lastly in Venice in 1503. He died in Venice and was buried in Padua next to Rabbi Judah Minz, Rabbi of Padua.

Abrabanel's commentaries on the Tanach are unique and represent a fresh departure in the depth of his questions and analyses and the originality of his interpretations. All subsequent commentators must take note of his questions even if they do not agree with his answers. He did not believe that appointing a king was a Mitzvah and was a strong opponent of monarchy. He wrote a famous commentary on Maimonides' "Guide to the Perplexed," which he admired greatly, though he did not hesitate to criticize that work. He wrote works on the Pesach Haggadah and Pirkei Avot and several works on the Messianic period and the Messiah, and Rosh Amana, in defense of the Rambam's thirteen principles of faith.