In Jewish law and history, ''Acharonim'' (; he, אחרונים ''Aḥaronim''; sing. , ''Aḥaron''; lit. "last ones") are the leading

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

s and poskim (Jewish legal decisors) living from roughly the 16th century to the present, and more specifically since the writing of the ''

Shulchan Aruch The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in I ...

'' (Hebrew: , "Set Table", a code of Jewish law) in 1563 CE. The ''Acharonim'' follow the '' Rishonim'', the "first ones"—the rabbinic scholars between the 11th and the 16th century following the ''

Geonim ''Geonim'' ( he, גאונים; ; also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura Academy , Sura and Pumbedita Academy ...

'' and preceding the ''Shulchan Aruch''. The publication of the ''Shulchan Aruch'' thus marks the transition from the era of Rishonim to that of Acharonim.

Consequences for Halakhic change

The distinction between the ''Acharonim'', ''Rishonim'' and ''Geonim'' is meaningful historically. According to the widely held view in

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses ...

, the Acharonim generally cannot dispute the rulings of rabbis of previous eras unless they find support from other rabbis in previous eras. Yet the opposite view exists as well: In ''The Principles of Jewish Law'' Orthodox Rabbi Menachem Elon wrote: ''Hilkheta Ke-Vatra'ei'' can be interpreted such that the Orthodox view does not constitute a contradiction, with an appeal to understand it within the greater context of Torah. While authority may go to the scholars of a later generation ''within'' a particular era, the Talmud does not allow scholars of a later era to argue with scholars of an ''earlier'' era without support from other scholars of an earlier era. This is displayed in “hundreds of instances" in the Talmud in which Amora’im are challenged by Tanna’itic sources with the term מיתיבי and the Amorai'm unable to “deflect the challenge”. An Amora called Rav is challenged by Tannai’tic sources “and is vindicated by the statement, ''Rav tanna hu upalig”-'' “Rav is a Tanna and disagrees (in ''Eiruvin'' 50b, ''Kesubos'' 8a, and elsewhere). A similar case exists for Rav China, a borderline Tanna in ''Bava Metzia'' 5a''.'' This clearly implies that the only reason they are able to get away with disagreeing is because they are Tannaim. There are “only a handful of possible exceptions

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that the ''Amora’im'' did not, in fact argue with the ''Tanna’im.”'' The question of which prior rulings can and cannot be disputed has led to attempts to precisely define which rulings are within the Acharonim era. According to many rabbis the Shulkhan Arukh is from an Acharon. Some hold that Rabbi Yosef Karo's ''Beit Yosef'' has the halakhic status of a work of a Rishon, while his later ''Shulkhan Arukh'' has the status of a work of an Acharon.

Notable Acharonim

''Note: This is list is incomplete and is only intended to provide a small selection from the broad list of prominent rabbinic figures of the Acharonic era.''

16th Century

* Bezalel Ashkenazi (''Shitah Mekubetzet'') (c. 1520 – c. 1592), Talmudist * Moses ben Jacob Cordovero (''Ramak'') (1522–1570), Holy Land Kabbalistic scholar * Joshua Falk (''Sma''; ''Me'irat Einayim''; 1555 – 1614) * Moshe Isserles (''Rema'') (1520–1572), Polish halakhic authority and Posek, author of ''HaMapah'' component of the '' Shulkhan Arukh'' * Yosef Karo (the ''Mechaber'') (1488–1575), Spanish and Land of Israel legal codifier of the '' Shulkhan Arukh'' code of Torah Law * Judah Loew ben Bezalel (''Maharal'') (1520–1609), Prague mystic and Talmudist * Isaac Luria (''Ari'') (1534–1572), Great Kabalist, basis for most recent Kabalists * Solomon Luria (''Maharshal'') (1510–1573), Posek and Talmudist * Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno (''Sforno'') (c. 1475 – 1550), Italian scholar and rationalist * Chaim Vital (1543–1620), Kabbalist and primary disciple of Rabbi Isaac Luria * David ben Solomon ibn Abi Zimra (''Radbaz'') (c. 1479 or c. 1487 – 1573), 15th/16th century Halakhist, Posek and Chief Rabbi of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

17th Century

* Samuel Eidels ("Maharsha") (1555–1631), Talmudist famous for his commentary on the Talmud *

Ḥayyim Shabbethai Ḥayyim ben Shabbethai (Hebrew: רבי חיים בן שבתי), commonly known by the acronym Maharhash (Hebrew: מהרח"ש, MArenu HA-Rav ḤAyyim SHabbethai, literally translating to "Our teacher, the Rabbi Hayyim Shabbethai"; 1557 - 1647) was ...

("Maharhash") (1557 - 1643), Chief Rabbi of Thessaloniki, famous for his responsa. * Menasseh Ben Israel (1604–1657), Portuguese/Dutch Kabbalist, diplomat and publisher *

Moses Raphael de Aguilar Moses Raphael de Aguilar ( – 15 December 1679) was a Sephardic-Dutch rabbi, Hebrew Grammatician and scholar, who wrote some 20 books on a series of talmudic and Hebrew language topics. He was also an important lecturer at the Amsterdam Talmud Tor ...

( 1611- 1679), Dutch Talmudist and Hebrew grammatician. *

Moses ben Isaac Judah Lima Moses ben Isaac Judah Lima (c. 1615 – c. 1670) was a Lithuanian rabbinical scholar, one of the Acharonim. When a comparatively young man he successively occupied the rabbinates of Brest-Litovsk and Slonim. His fame as a scholar soon reached Viln ...

(''Chelkath Mechokeik''; c. 1615 – c. 1670) * Shabbatai HaKohen (1621–1662; ''Siftei Kohen'') * David HaLevi Segal (''Turei Zahav'') (c. 1586–1667), Halakhist, major commentator on the

Shulkhan Aruch The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in Is ...

* Avraham Gombiner (''Magen Avraham''; c. 1635 – 1682) *

Hillel ben Naphtali Zevi Hillel ben Naphtali Zevi ( he, הלל בן נפתלי צבי) also known as Hillel Ben Naphtali Herz, was a Lithuanian rabbi. Biography He was born at Brest-Litovsk in 1615; he died at Zolkiev (Zhovkva) January 3, 1690. After he had studied unde ...

(''Bet Hillel'') (1615–1690), Lithuanian scholar * Isaac Aboab da Fonseca (1605–1693), Portuguese/Dutch scholar and Kabbalist, first Rabbi in the Americas * Hezekiah da Silva (1659–1698; ''Peri Chodosh'') * Yair Bacharach (''Havvot Yair'') (1639–1702), German Talmudist *

Isaac Abendana Isaac Abendana (c.1640–1699) was the younger brother of Jacob Abendana, and became ''hakam'' of the Spanish Portuguese Synagogue in London after his brother died. Abendana moved to England before his brother, in 1662, and taught Hebrew at Camb ...

(c. 1640–1710), Sephardic scholar in England * Samuel ben Uri Shraga Phoebus (''Beit Shmuel'')

18th Century

Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia e16 058-0

* Chaim ibn Attar (''Ohr Hachaim''; ''Peri Toar''; 1696—1743) * Jonathan Eybeschutz (''Urim ve-Tummim''; ''Kereti u-Peleti'') (1690–1764) of

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, * Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (''Ramchal'') (1707–1746), Italian philosopher, mystic, and moralist *

Yehudah ben Shimon Ashkenazi Judah or Yehuda is the name of a biblical patriarch, Judah (son of Jacob). It may also refer to: Historical ethnic, political and geographic terms * Tribe of Judah, one of the twelve Tribes of Israel; their allotment corresponds to Judah or J ...

('' Ba'er Hetev''; 1730–1770), a German rabbi *

Zechariah Mendel ben Aryeh Leib of Cracow Zechariah Mendel ben Aryeh Leib (died c.1706) (Hebrew: זכריה מנדל בן אריה ליב) was a Polish Talmudist, native of Cracow. In 1689 he became chief rabbi and head of the yeshivah at Belz, Galicia. He was the author of ''Be'er H ...

('' Ba'er Hetev'') * Joseph ben Meir Teomim (1727–1792; ''Pri Megadim'') * Vilna Gaon ("Gra") (1720–1797), Lithuanian Talmudist and Kabbalist; Note: The Chazon Ish held him to be a Rishon * Chaim Yosef David Azulai ("Chida"; ''Birkei Yosef'' - a commentary on the ''

'') (1724–1806) * Jacob Emden (1697–1776), Danish/German scholar * Shalom Sharabi (1720–1777), Yemenite Sage, Kabbalist and founder of the Beit El Yeshiva, Jerusalem * Shneur Zalman of Liadi ('The Baal HaTanya'; '' Shulchan Aruch HaRav'') (1745–1812) * Elazar Fleckeles (1754 – 1826) * Simcha Bunim of Peshischa (1767 - 1827) * Samuel Loew (c. 1720–1806; ''Machatzis HaShekel'') * Aryeh Leib HaCohen Heller (c. 1745 – 1812; ''Ketzot HaChoshen'') * Avraham Danzig (1748—1820; '' Chayei Adam''; ''Chochmat Adam'') *

Yaakov Lorberbaum Yaakov ben Yaakov Moshe Lorberbaum of Lissa (1760-1832) (known in English as Jacob ben Jacob Moses of Lissa, Jacob Lorberbaum or Jacob Lisser, Hebrew: יעקב בן יעקב משה מליסא) was a rabbi and posek. He is most commonly known as the ...

(1760-1832; ''Nesivos HaMishpat'') * Akiva Eger (1761 – 1837)

19th Century

Naftali Tzvi Iehuda Berlin (ha-Natziv) 1a

* Yehudah Leib Alter (''Sfas Emes'') (1847–1905), Gerrer rebbe * Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (''Netziv'', ''HaEmek Davar'') (1816–1893), head of Volozhin Yeshiva in Lithuania *

Abraham Hirsch ben Jacob Eisenstadt of Byelostok Abraham Tzvi Hirsch ben Jacob Eisenstadt of Byelostok (1812–1868) ( Hebrew: אברהם צבי הירש בן יעקב אייזנשטאט) served as rabbi in Utyan ( Utena), government of Kovno, and died in Königsberg in 1868. Works He began at ...

(1812–1868; ''Pithchei Teshuvah'') * Baruch Epstein (''Torah Temimah'') (1860-1941), Lithuanian Torah commentator * Moshe Mordechai Epstein (''Levush Mordechai'') (1866–1933), Talmudist and co-head of Slabodka Yeshiva * Yechiel Michel Epstein ('' Aruch HaShulchan'') (1829–1908), Halakhist and Posek * Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808–1888), German rabbi, founder of the ''Torah im Derech Eretz'' movement * Yisrael Meir Kagan ('' Chofetz Chaim''; '' Mishnah Berurah'') (1838–1933), Polish Halakhist, Posek, and moralist * Yosef Hayyim of Baghdad (''Ben Ish Chai'') (1835–1909), Iraqi Halakhist,

Posek In Halakha, Jewish law, a ''Posek'' ( he, פוסק , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the position of ''halakha'', the Judaism, Jewish religious laws derived from the Torah, written and Oral Torah in cases of Jewish law wher ...

, Kabbalist and communal leader * Meir Leib ben Yechiel Michel (''Malbim'') (1809–1879), Russian preacher and scholar * Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (''Tzemach Tzedek''; 1789-1866) * Moses Sofer (''Chatam Sofer'') (1762–1839), Hungarian rabbi * Chaim Soloveitchik ("Reb Chaim Brisker") (1853–1918), Rosh Yeshivah in Valozhyn, Innovator of the Brisker method * Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky (''Ridbaz'') (1845–1913), of Slutzk,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and Tzfat (1845–1913) * Meir Simcha of Dvinsk (''Ohr Sameiach'', ''Meshech Chochmah'') (1843–1926), Lithuanian-Latvian Talmudist and communal leader

20th Century

Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag ( he, ברוך שלום הלוי אשלג) (also known as the RABASH) (January 22, 1907 – September 13, 1991) was a kabbalist, the firstborn and successor of Yehuda Ashlag also known as Baal Hasulam, the author o ...

(''RaBaSh'') (1907-1991), author of the Shlavei HaSulam and Shamati * Yehuda Ashlag (''Baal HaSulam'') (1884-1954), author of The Sulam commentary on The Book of Zohar *

Shlomo Zalman Auerbach Shlomo Zalman Auerbach ( he, שלמה זלמן אויערבאך; July 20, 1910 – February 20, 1995) was a renowned Orthodox Jewish rabbi, posek, and rosh yeshiva of the Kol Torah yeshiva in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem neighborhood Ramat Shlomo ...

1910-1995 Major Modern Posek in Israel * Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler (''Michtav Me'Eliyahu'') (1892–1953), 20th century religious philosopher and ethicist *

Mordechai Eliyahu Mordechai Tzemach Eliyahu ( he, מרדכי צמח אליהו, March 3, 1929 – June 7, 2010, on the Hebrew calendar: 21 Adar I, 5689 - 25 Siwan, 5770),

(1929–2010), Halakhist, Posek, and Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel (1983–1993) * Moshe Feinstein (''Igrot Moshe'') (1895–1986), Russian-American Halakhist, Posek, and Talmudist * Yitzchok Hutner (''Pachad Yitzchok'') (1906–1980), European-born American and Israeli Rosh Yeshiva * Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz (''Chazon Ish'') (1878–1953), Belarusian-born, leading halakhic authority and leader of Haredi Judaism in Israel * Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902–1994), seventh

Rebbe A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritu ...

of Chabad-Lubavitch * Elazar Shach (1899-2001) (rav shach) Rosh Yeshiva Ponevezh and Posek * Yaakov Chaim Sofer (1870–1939; ''Kaf Hachaim'') *

Joseph B. Soloveitchik Joseph Ber Soloveitchik ( he, יוסף דב הלוי סולובייצ׳יק ''Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveychik''; February 27, 1903 – April 9, 1993) was a major American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosopher. He was a scion o ...

(1903 – 1993) (''rav yoshe ber'') 20th century Rosh Yeshiva, Talmudist, and religious philosopher. * Joel Teitelbaum (''Divrei Yoel''; 1887-1979), the first Satmar rebbe * Eliezer Waldenberg 1915-2006 the "Tzitz Eliezer" Major Modern Posek in Israel * Shmuel Wosner (''Shevet Halevi'') (1913-2015), Posek, Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin * Ovadia Yosef (1920–2013), Iraqi-born Halakhist, Posek and Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel (1973–1983)