Aryeh Leib HaCohen Heller

Aryeh Leib Heller, Kahana (c. 1745 – 1812) (Hebrew: אריה לייב בן יוסף הכהן הלר‎‎) was a Rabbi, Talmudist, and Halachist in Galicia. He was known as "the Ketzos" based on his magnum opus, Ketzot Hachoshen, קצות החושן.

In circa 1745, Aryeh Leib was born to his father Yosef in the Galician town of Kalush (presently located in Ukraine). Aryeh Leib is a fifth-generation descendant of Rabbi Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller. His ancestry is shown in Yom Tov's biography linked above. (Fourth-generation attributions e.g. by Yehuda Har-Zohar Zauerberg, are incorrect; also some works mistake Solomon Judah Loeb Rapoport, Aryeh Leib's son-in-law DOB 1786, for his brother-in-law.) Aryeh Leib was the youngest of five brothers (with Chaim, Mordechai, Daniel, and Yehuda the Kuntras Ha'Sfeikos) and one sister, about whom nothing is currently known.

In his youth, after being recognized by his father as a prodigy, Aryeh Leib was sent to learn Torah from Rabbi Meshullam Igra of Tysmienica, Poland, an outstanding authority. From 1788 until 1812 Aryeh Leib was rabbi of Stryi, a position later to be held by Aryeh Leib's opponent in many halachic debates, Rabbi Yaakov Lorberbaum. He had four children: a daughter, Franziska Freide (1788-1842), who married Solomon (Shi'r) Rapoport in 1810, and 3 sons: Yosef (1769-1832), David (1771-1830), and Zwi Hirsch (1776-1834).

Known as "the Ketzos" (based on his greatest work, Ketzot HaChoshen, קצות החושן), Rabbi Heller was a prominent critic of the Hasidic movement (i.e., a misnaged- "[one who] opposes.") The Hasidic movement taught that closeness to God could be accomplished equally through intensive study of the Torah or through fervent song and dance. This unsettled many Torah authorities who feared that this philosophy may lead to the ultimate ignorance of the Torah by the masses. Regardless, he was held in high esteem by the Hasidic leaders in deference to his extraordinary Talmudic acumen.

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