Rabbi Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, also spelled Yosef Caro, or Qaro (Hebrew: יוסף קארו; 1488 – March 24, 1575, 13 Nisan 5335 A.M.), was a prominent Sephardic Jewish rabbi renowned as the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Beit Yosef, and its popular analogue, the Shulhan Arukh. Karo is regarded as the preeminent halakhic authority of his time, and is often referred to by the honorific titles HaMechaber (Hebrew: הַמְחַבֵּר, lit. 'the author') and Maran (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: מָרַן, lit. 'our master').