Mishnah Berurah

The Mishnah Berurah ("Clear Teaching") is the commentary of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, the Chafetz Chaim, on Orach Chayim, the part of the Shulchan Aruch that covers daily life, prayer, blessings, Shabbat and the festivals. He wrote it in Radun, where he ran his yeshiva, and published it in six volumes, the first in 1884 and the last in 1907. For each paragraph of the Shulchan Aruch and the Rema it gathers the rulings of the later authorities (Acharonim), such as the Magen Avraham, the Vilna Gaon and the Chayei Adam, and gives a decision. Two further commentaries are printed on the same page: Biur Halakhah, which discusses difficult questions at length, and Sha'ar HaTziyun, which gives the sources.

Clear, practical and thorough, the Mishnah Berurah became the accepted authority on everyday halakhah for most Ashkenazi Jews. It is studied in yeshivot, in daily study cycles, and by laymen who consult it on questions of prayer and Shabbat. Together with his Chafetz Chaim on the laws of speech, it is the reason Rabbi Kagan's name is known in almost every observant home.