Aryeh Leib Bernstein

Aryeh Leib Bernstein (1708 – October 22, 1788) was the first and only Chief Rabbi of Galicia.

Life Bernstein was born in 1708 in Brody, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. His father Issacher Ber was a rabbi who served as rabbi of Kehillat Ḥayyatin ("Congregation of the Tailors") in Brody, was rosh ha-medinah ("head of the province") of Brody, a trustee of the Council of Four Lands and parnas of Rydzyna Province. His paternal grandmother, Surah Babad, was the great-granddaughter of two prominent Talmudists, Avraham Yehoshua Heschel on her paternal side and Shabbatai HaKohen on her maternal side. As Chief Rabbi, he had a lot of power over the various communities, especially in terms of nominating rabbis and butchers as well as raising taxes. He worked with various Brody merchants (including his brother Zwi Hirsh) in multiple money-raising plans. Quarrels developed between Bernstein and various Jewish guilds, with the Jews of Brody being particularly opposed to his position. At one point, when a fire spread to Bernstein's house, most of the local Jews refused to help extinguish the fire. In 1785, following official protests from all over Galicia, the district government began an inquiry into Bernstein's actions. The inquiry concluded the complaints were unjustified and based on purely personal motives, but in 1786 the government abolished the position of Chief Rabbi in light of the persistent opposition from the Jewish community. Bernstein was allowed to keep the title of Chief Rabbi, and he spent the last year of his life pursuing commercial pursuits while gradually withdrawing from public life and transferring his business to his sons Wolf and Benjamin.