Soc.Culture.Jewish Newsgroups Frequently Asked Questions and Answers URL: www.scjfaq.org/faq/03-40.html

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Question 3.40:
What is the Hamappah of Rabbi Moshe Isserles?

Rabbi Moshe Isserles, also known as the Rama, lived in Cracow from 1525 to 1572. He noted that the Shulkhan Arukh was based almost entirely on Sephardic tradition, and thus set out to create a series of glosses to be appended to the text of the Shulkhan Arukh for all instances where Sephardi and Ashkenazi customs differed.

The short comments of the Rama are incorporated into the body of the Shulkhan Arukh and are printed in Rashi script. He referred to his comments as a 'mappah', which means tablecloth [for the set table].

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