MINHAG AND HALAKHAH 59. Tur, Orah Hayim 135. See R. Asher, Gittin 5.20. 60. Resp. Rashba , Vol. 1,#119. 61. Resp. Rivash ,#204. 62. To M. Gittin 5.8. 63. M. Horayot 3.7. 64. Yad, Tefilah 12.18.
65. Orah Hayim 135. Karo’s close attachment to the halakhah of Rambam is evident in his introduction to the Beit Yosef, where he calls Rambam "the bestknown halakhic authority in the world," and in the extent to which he provides commentary on Maimonides ’ halakhic rulings, not only in his Kesef Mishneh but also in the Beit Yosef. See Isadore Twersky ,"Harav Yosef Karo ba’al HaShulhan Arukh," Asufot, Jerusalem , 1989, V. 3, pp. 245-262; and Mark Washofsky,"The Commentary of R. Nissim b. Reuven Gerondi to the Halakhot of Alfsi: A Study in Halakhic History," Hebrew Union College Annual, Cincinnati , 1989, V. 60, pp. 213216.
66. Resp. Maharik , shoresh 9. Karo opines that the gaonim would agree that, though even an ignorant priest is normally called first, should the kohen willingly forego this honor a scholar may be called in his stead.
67. With some notable exceptions: see Rabad, quoted in Meiri , Beit HaBehirah, Gittin, 59b, and Mabharik, loc. cit.
68. Yisrael Ta-Shema argues that minhag Ashkenaz predated the arrival of the Babylonian Talmud in that region and for centuries preserved its status as equal or superior to the formal halakhah. On this point, as well as the tension between the Tosafists as representatives of the"new" halakhah and the adherents of the older traditions, see his article in Sidra, Jerusalem , 187, V. 3, pp. 85-161.