Rabbi Yosef Karo (1488-1575) was the greatest halachic authority of his generation and author of the Shulchan Aruch, the code of Jewish law that governs Jewish life to this day. Born in Spain and expelled in 1492, he eventually settled in Tzfat where he led the rabbinic court for decades. He also wrote the Beit Yosef commentary and Kesef Mishneh, and was a Kabbalist who received divine teachings from a heavenly mentor called a Maggid. He lived to the age of 87 and is buried in the Old Cemetery of Tzfat.