Yosef Avraham haLevi Heller is an American Orthodoxrabbi and a member of the ChabadHasidic movement. Rabbi Heller serves as an emeritus member of the Bais Din Tzedek (Jewish Rabbinical Court) of the Chabad community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn; he is an authority on Halacha (Jewish law) and Hasidic philosophy.[1] Rabbi Heller holds the additional position of Rosh Kollel, head of the community's kollel, a yeshiva for married men.[2][3]
As a member of the Crown Heights Beth Din (rabbinical court), Rabbi Heller is considered [by whom?] one of the community's chief rabbis (Aramaic, מרא דאתרא (Marah D'Asra)).[4] The rabbinical court is the spiritual and religious body governing the Crown Heights Chabad community. There are currently three rabbis serving on the Beth Din:
Rabbi Heller, along with Rabbis Yehuda Kalmen Marlow and Avraham Osdoba, was elected to the rabbinical court in a communal election, following the passing of Rabbi Zalman Shimon Dvorkin, the community's previous chief rabbi.[8] After the passing of his wife Rabbi Heller stopped most public rabbinic activities, he still however answers rabbinic questions privately, as well as in the Kolel.[citation needed]
InOrthodox Judaism, it is customary for every community to establish a communal institution where a group of adult men study during the day. The men are in turn supported financially by the community.[citation needed]
Rabbi Heller has publicly stated that stringencient practices in Jewish Law (orchumras), may not be practiced if they are at the expense of other members of one's household. Heller referred to practices common in Orthodox circles, where additional stringencies are practiced on Passover.[10]
