The first book of the legal code A’arbah Turim ‘the four Pillars’ was composed by Jacob ben Asher (Ba’al ha-Turim, Cologne 1269-Toledo c. 1343), one of the most influential bible and legal scholars of the medieval period. He was one of the sons of Asher ben Jehiel (c. 1250-1327), an important Ashkenazi Rabbi from Cologne, who moved to Castile, due to increasing persecution of Jews in his native Germany. Composed in Toledo, the work Arba’ah Turim is divided into four books or sections (Oraḥ Ḥayim, Yoreh De’ah, Even ha-Ezer, Ḥoshen Mishpat), each called a "tur," alluding to the columns of jewels on the High Priest's breastplate. The work deals with practical laws which are applicable during the Jewish exile. Indeed, the introduction of the work explains the need for a more concise and practical halakhic compilation than that of the Maimonides’ (1135-1204) Mishneh Torah. The Arba’ah Turim was thus considered an authoritative work not only in Sepharad, but also in Ashkenaz, exemplified by Cod. 253.‎
The first division is the Tur Oraḥ Ḥayim or ‘Path of Life’ (Ed. Princ. Piove, 1475) and encloses laws on daily Jewish practices of blessings (i.e. washing hands in the morning, tefilin, tsitsit), prayer and laws on the Sabbath, festivals and Torah readings. This section also includes aspects of the Hebrew calendar relative to the annual liturgy. The Tur Oraḥ Ḥayim is preserved in circa 60 manuscripts and was printed over 20 times during the 15th and 16th centuries (Vidro, “Manuscript”, p. 74). Judah Galinsky identified two recensions of the work attested in all geo-cultural areas; one original short recension, which is closer stylistically and halakhically to Jacob ben Asher’s earlier works but less well formulated and a second longer recension, which varies from the earlier works but introduces clarifications in wording and halakha (Vidro, “Manuscript”, p. 74). However, neither recension is well represented in the surviving manuscripts of this work, which have been observed to incorporate sections of both recensions (Galinsky, pp. 310-311). As a fundamental work of halakha, the Arba’ah Turim went on to be highly esteemed and several commentaries were made from it, such as the Beit Yosef by the celebrated Sephardic scholar and rabbi named Joseph ben Ephraim Caro (1488-1575) (Caro’s work was adapted to the Ashkenazi version of Jewish law by Rabbi Moses Isserles (1530-1572) in his Mappah) and the Darkhei Moshe by Rabbi Moses Isserles.
‎Regarding the location of production for Ms Cod. 253, folio 83r encloses a marginal note mentioning a Rhenish custom (‎מנהג רינוס‎), perhaps suggesting that it may have been copied somewhere in the Rhineland. As for the dating of the manuscript, Ms Cod. 253 can be dated to the 2nd half of the 15th century, owing to the stylized gothic Ashkenazi square script for initial words. It is noteworthy to add that Bern, Burgerbibliothek, Cod. 253, along with Città del Vaticano, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, MS Ross. 555 (Italy, 1435) and Vienna, Österreichisches Nationalbibliothek, Cod. Hebr. 127 (Ashkenaz, 1436), all contain an identical calendar for the years 5093-5263 A.M (1333-1503 C.E.), 19-year cycles, from the 269th to the 277th cycle. The dates of this calendar are specific to these three manuscripts and differ from the calendar described by Jacob ben Asher in his accompanying text, which is said to cover the years 5055-6000 A.M. (1295-2240 C.E.) (Vidro, “Manuscript”, p. 79). Consequently, this calendar table with the dates 1333-1503 C.E. found in each of these manuscripts respectively, reveals that the work was diffused in 14th century Ashkenaz and Italy shortly after its composition in Sepharad. As supporting evidence, a north French rite siddur, copied in northern Italy in 1395, cites the Arba’ah Turim in its glosses. (Galinsky, “Scholar”, pp. 38-39)‎.
For another Ashkenazi manuscript containing this same work, although slightly older, see Zurich, Braginsky Collection, Ms B 124 (dated circa end of the 14th c. to 1st half 15th c.) (accessed 21.01.2020).‎

• The manuscripts of this work are structured by the numbering of chapters or sections (simanim) which are not consistent from one manuscript to another. In Ms Cod. 253, the simanim begin on f. 1r with n°100 (‎ק‎) and end on f. 107v with n°527 (‎תקכז‎).‎
  • (ff. 1r-36v) : Laws on daily practices and rituals (beginning missing)‎
  • (ff. 37r-79v) : Laws relative to the Sabbath (‎הילכות שבת‎)‎
  • (ff. 82r-83v) : Rules on the order of the months (‎סדר החודשים‎), followed by explanations on two calendar tables. Pre-calculated calendar covering the years 5055-6000 A.M. (1295-2240 C.E) in the text, which will not be implemented in the first table on folio 84r.
  • (ff. 84r-84v) : Two calendar tables from chapter 428 of the Tur Oraḥ Ḥayim.‎
    • The first table on folio 84r contains a pre-calculated calendar presented as a cycle of 247 years which was erroneously considered to repeat itself indefinitely (Vidro, “Calendar tables”, p. 59). One can find the year types (Qeviyot) (explanation in Vidro, “Calendar tables”, pp. 62-63) for knowing the days when Rosh ha-Shana and Pessah fall either during a simple or intercalated year (see 1st column to the right) during a period of 19 years (see 2nd column to the right). The table spans 9 cycles, going from the 269th cycle (years 5093-5111AM/1333-1351 CE) to the 277th cycle (years 5245-5263AM/1485-1503CE). ‎
    • The second table on folio 84v presents the possible courses of the Jewish liturgical year, such as year types (Qeviyot) for 14 years (7 simple and 7 intercalated years), revealing the 1st day of the month or the days when various festivals and fasts fall, as well as when the 4 special sabbaths fall during the year (e.g. Rosh ha-Shana, can only fall on days 2, 3, 5, 7 of the week and Pessah can only fall on days 1, 3, 5, 7 of the week). The two ‘fleur de lys’ drawings separate the simple years and intercalated years.
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  • (ff. 85r-101r) : Laws on Pessah.‎
  • (ff. 101r-107v) : Laws on the festivals and High Holidays ( ‎הילכות ימים טובים‎) (incomplete)‎