Yehuda Heller-Kahane (2 December 1743 – 22 April 1819) ( he, יהודה בן יוסף הכהן ) was a

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 ce ...

ist, and Halachist in Galicia. He was known as "the ''Kuntras HaSfeikos''" based on his work, ''Kuntras HaSfeikos'' ().

Life and works

In 1743 Yehuda was born to his father Yosef in the Galician town of Kalush (presently located in Ukraine). Contrary to some historical reports, Yehuda was not a fourth-generation descendant from Rabbi

Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller Rabbi Gershon Shaul Yom-Tov Lipmann ben Nathan ha-Levi Heller (c. 157919 August 1654), was a Bohemian rabbi and Talmudist, best known for writing a commentary on the Mishnah called the ''Tosefet Yom-Tov'' (1614–1617). Heller was one of the major ...

, but fifth generation. The family tree is shown in Yom Tov's biography (linked above). He was one of five brothers (with Chaim, Mordechai, Daniel, and Aryeh Leib the Ketzos HaChoshen) and one sister. He was the first Rabbi of Sighet, in

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

, that time part of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...

(now part of Romania). R. Yehuda wrote: ''Kuntras HaSfeikos'' which documents cases in the Gemara regarding monetary disputes, as well as ''Terumas Hakri'', a commentary on the ''

Shulchan Aruch The ''Shulchan Aruch'' ( he, שֻׁלְחָן עָרוּך , literally: "Set Table"), sometimes dubbed in English as the Code of Jewish Law, is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Judaism. It was authored in Safed (today in I ...

''.

References

External links

קונטרס הספיקות
(in Hebrew) {{DEFAULTSORT:Heller-Kahana, Yehuda HaCohen 1743 births 1819 deaths People from Kalush, Ukraine Rabbis from the Austrian Empire Orthodox rabbis from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Kohanim writers of Rabbinic literature Polish Orthodox rabbis