Rabbi Aharon ben Joseph ha-Levi ( he, אהרון הלוי‎; 1235 – c. 1290), known by his

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

''Ra'aH'' (), was a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

ic scholar and

Halakhist ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

. Rabbi Aaron ha-Levi was born in

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

(present-day

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

) in 1235 to his father Rabbi Joseph ha-Levi, son of Rabbi Benveniste ha-Levi, son of Rabbi Joseph ha-Levi, who was the son of Rabbi Zerachiah ha-Levi of Girona Baal Hamaor. The Ra'ah's mother Clara, was a granddaughter of Rabbi

Aaron of Lunel Aaron ben Meshullam ben Jacob of Lunel was a French Jewish ritualist who flourished about the end of the twelfth century in Lunel and died in about 1210 (according to the " Scepter of Judah"). He was one of the five sons of Meshullam ben Jacob and ...

who was the son of Rabbi Meshullam ben Jacob of Lunel ("Rabbenu Meshullam hagadol"). Rabbi Aaron ha-Levi studied under his father Rabbi Joseph ha-Levi and brother Rabbi

Pinchas ben Joseph ha-Levi According to the Hebrew Bible, Phinehas or Phineas (; , ''Phinees'', ) was a Kohen, priest during the Israelites’ The Exodus, Exodus journey. The grandson of Aaron and son of Eleazar, the High Priests (), he distinguished himself as a youth ...

, as well as

Nachmanides Moses ben Nachman ( he, מֹשֶׁה בֶּן־נָחְמָן ''Mōše ben-Nāḥmān'', "Moses son of Nachman"; 1194–1270), commonly known as Nachmanides (; el, Ναχμανίδης ''Nakhmanídēs''), and also referred to by the acronym Ra ...

and was a colleague of Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet (1235–1310). He published critical notes on the Rashba's ''Torat HaBayith'', which he entitled ''Bedek HaBayith''. He also wrote a commentary on the

, select parts of which have been published. The sixteenth century author

Gedaliah ibn Yaḥyah Gedaliah ibn Yahya ben Joseph (Hebrew: גדליה אבן יחיא בן יוסף; – 1587) was a 16th-century Italian Talmudist and Biblical chronologist chiefly known for his Biblical Chronology "Shalshelet HaḲabbalah". Biography Born in I ...

also credited ha-Levi as the author of the anonymous '' Sefer ha-Chinuch'' ("Book of Education"), although this claim has been rejected by many scholars due to discrepancies between opinions expressed in ''Bedek HaBayith'' and the ''Chinuch''. This has led to the conclusion that the true author of the Sefer ha-Chinuch was a different "Aaron ha-levi of Barcelona", who was a student of Shlomo ben Aderet, rather than his colleague. More recently, Professor

Israel Ta-Shma Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

of the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

has presented that the author of "Sefer ha-Chinuch" was in fact Rabbi Aaron's brother, Pinchas ben Joseph ha-Levi, who had written the work for his son, Joshua.Israel Ta-Shma (1980), "Mehabbero ha-'amitti shel Sefer ha-hinnukh," Kiryat Sefer 55: 787-90 Rabbi Yom Tov Asevilli was one of Rabbi Aharon Halevi's students.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halevi, Aharon 13th-century Catalan rabbis 1235 births 1290 deaths Rabbis from Girona Levites Authors of books on Jewish law