The Arukh HaShulkhan is a work of Jewish scholarship, written by Yechiel Michel Epstein. The title "Arukh HaShulkhan" ("laying the table") is a clear allusion to the Shulkhan Arukh ("the set table"), the authoritative work of halakha on which it draws. Rabbi Yechiel Michel Epstein (1829-1907), often called the Aruch ha-Shulchan (after his main work), was a posek (authority in Jewish law) in Lithuania. ... The Shulkhan Arukh (Hebrew: Prepared Table), by Rabbi Yosef Karo is considered the most authoritative compilation of Jewish law since the Talmud. ... Halakha (הלכה or Halakhah, Halacha, Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish rabbinic law, custom and tradition. ...

In Arukh HaShulkhan, Epstein traces the origins of each law and custom to its source in the Torah or Talmud, states the view of the Rishonim (early, pre-1550 authorities), and arrives at a psak (decision) - often supporting his views with the words of the Acharonim (later authorities) but occasionally disagreeing with them. The work follows the structure of the Shulkhan Arukh, and hence comes in four books, subdivided into chapters, which are again subdivided in paragraphs. Torah, (תורה) is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or especially law. It primarily refers to the first section of the Tanakh–the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, or the Five Books of Moses, but can also be used in the general sense to also include both the... The first page of the Talmud, in the standard Vilna edition. ... Rishonim (Hebrew - sing. ... Events February 7 - Julius III becomes Pope. ... Acharonim (Hebrew - sing. ...

In his work, Epstein tends to take a lenient view (le-kula), but decidedly without compromising in any form on the power and rule of Jewish law.

Arukh HaShulkhan is often quoted alongside the Mishnah Berurah, a work composed slightly later by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (the Chafetz Chaim). Due to the latter's popularity in the yeshiva world, the Mishnah Berurah is often considered authoritative over Arukh HaShulkhan by yeshiva graduates. Nevertheless, Arukh HaShulkhan has a much wider scope. Mishnah Berurah (Hebrew: Clarified Teaching) is a commentary on the Orach Chayim (laws of prayer, synagogue, shabbat and holidays) section of the Shulkhan Arukh by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, better known as The Chafetz Chayim (Poland, 1838 - 1933). ... Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, known as the Chofetz Chaim. ... Yeshiva (or yeshivah) (Hebrew, pl. ...

The work was originally published in eight volumes; more recent editions feature a ninth volume (which had until recently remained in manuscript form), concerning religious vows, as well as a collection of homiletics. Epstein also wrote a similar work entitled Arukh HaShulkhan he'Atid (Laying the Table of the Future), a parallel work to Arukh HaShulkhan summarising and analysing the laws that will apply in Messianic times. A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... Homiletics (Gr. ... In Judaism, the Messiah (מָשִׁיחַ Anointed one, Standard Hebrew Mašíaḥ, Tiberian Hebrew Māšîªḥ) is a human descendant of King David who will rebuild the nation of Israel and bring world peace by restoring the Davidic Kingdom. ...