ר׳ אהרן בן יוסף הלוי מברצלונה (הרא״ה)

ר׳ אהרן בן יוסף הלוי מברצלונה (c.1235–before 1303), known as הרא״ה, was a major Catalan Rishon, Talmudist and halakhic critic. Probably born in Girona, he descended through his father ר׳ יוסף הלוי from ר׳ זרחיה הלוי, בעל המאור. His formative teachers included his elder brother ר׳ פנחס הלוי and ר׳ משה בן נחמן; he belonged to the same Catalan scholarly world as ר׳ שלמה בן אדרת, at times colleague and at times formidable opponent. After becoming identified with Barcelona, he served by royal appointment in Zaragoza in 1284/1285 to help settle communal disputes, spent a short period in Toledo, and returned to Barcelona. His most famous work, בדק הבית, respectfully but sharply criticized תורת הבית of ר׳ שלמה בן אדרת, who answered in משמרת הבית. הרא״ה also wrote extensive Talmudic novellae, a commentary on the הלכות of ר׳ יצחק אלפסי and practical halakhic treatises. His best-known student was ר׳ יום טוב בן אברהם אשבילי, whose writings preserve many teachings otherwise lost. ספר החינוך was traditionally attributed to הרא״ה, but contradictions with his authenticated writings led modern scholarship to reject or seriously doubt that identification. Claims that he ended his life in Montpellier rest on a likely misreading and are not used as a map movement.