A rabbi (; , ) is a Jewish preacher and religious leader in Judaism.rabbi | Definition, History, & Functions | Britannica A person becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi — known as Semikhah — following a course of study of Jewish history and texts, including the Tanakh, Midrash, Mishnah, Tosefta, Talmud, Halakha, and rabbinic commentaries thereon. The basic form of the rabbi developed between the Second Temple (167 BCE–73 CE)—being heavily influenced by the Pharisees—and Rabbinic periods (70–640 CE), when learned teachers—overlapping with the Tannaim, Amoraim, Savoraim, and early Geonim—assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws. The title "rabbi" was first used in the first century CE. In more recent centuries, the duties of a rabbi became increasingly influenced by the duties of the Protestant Christian minister, hence the title "pulpit rabbis." Further, in 19th-century Germany and the United States, rabbinical activities such as delivering sermons, pastoral counseling, and representing the community to the outside all increased in importance.
Within the various Jewish denominations, there are different requirements for rabbinic ordination, and differences in opinion regarding who is recognized as a rabbi. Non-Orthodox movements, including Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism, and Jewish Renewal, have set their requirements for semikhah based on what they consider halakhic reasons (as in Conservative Judaism) and ethical reasons (as in Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism).PRI.org Can Orthodox Jewish Women be Rabbis? , November 9, 2015
Etymology and pronunciation The word comes from the Mishnaic Hebrew construct , meaning 'Master [Name]'; the standard Hebrew noun is 'master'. is also used as a title for rabbis, as are ('our master') and ('the master'). A derived term is .
The Hebrew root in turn derives from the Semitic root (R-B-B), which in Biblical Aramaic means 'great' in many senses, including 'revered', but appears primarily as a prefix in construct forms.Heinz-Josef Fabry entry Rab in Theological dictionary of the Old Testament Vol. 13 pp. 273–75 ed. G. Johannes Botterweck, :sv:Helmer Ringgren, Fabry 2004 p. 273 "RAB... is also well attested in Phoenician.9 Here too rab functions as a title; its specific meaning can be determined only by its relationship to other offices and functions.10 Aramaic in all its dialects makes copious use of this root." Although the usage 'many' (as 1 Kings 18:25, ) 'the majority', 'the multitude' occurs for the assembly of the community in the Dead Sea Scrolls, there's no evidence to support an association of this use with the later title "rabbi".Fabry entry Rab in Theological dictionary of the Old Testament Volume 13, p. 298 G. Johannes Botterweck, Helmer Ringgren, Heinz-Josef Fabry – 2004 "There is no evidence to support an association, commonly cited in discussions of this usage.160 with the use of the title "Rabbi" ... Already suggested by M. Burrows and repeated by Carmignac, 584" The root is cognate to Arabic , meaning 'lord' (generally used when talking about God, but also about temporal lords), and to the Syriac word .
Some communities, especially Sephardic and Yemenite Jews, historically pronounced the title ; this pronunciation competed with and in Ashkenaz until the modern period.Siddur Azor Eliyahu, p. 18 (on "Ribbi Yishmael Omer" before Pesukei deZimra). Text with acronyms expanded according to its glossary (parentheses in original, square brackets added based on the glossary):
Historical overview "Rabbi" is not an occupation found in the Hebrew Bible, and ancient generations did not apply related titles such as rabban, rabbi, or rav for either the Babylonian sages or the sages in Israel. For example, Hillel I and Shammai (the religious leaders of the early first century) had no rabbinic title prefixed to their names. The titles "rabban" and "rabbi" are first mentioned in Jewish literature in the Mishnah. Rabban was first used for Rabban Gamaliel the Elder, Rabban Simeon ben Gamliel (his son), and Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, all of whom were patriarchs or presidents of the Sanhedrin in the first century. Early recipients of the title rabbi include Rabbi Zadok and Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob, beginning in the time of the disciples of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai. The title "Rabbi" (the Greek transliteration of ) occurs in the Christian books of Matthew, Mark, and John in the New Testament, in which it is used—sometimes negatively—in reference to the "Scribes and Pharisees" as well as to Jesus.Englishman's Greek Concordance of the New Testament by Wigram, George V.; citing Matthew 26:25, Mark 9:5 and John 3:2 (among others)Catherine Hezser, The social structure of the rabbinic movement in Roman Palestine, 1997, p. 59 "b – Rabbi as an Honorary Address ... Since Jesus was called "Rabbi" but did not conform to the traditional image of post-70 Jewish rabbis, and since pre-70 sages do not bear the title "Rabbi" in the Mishnah, 29 most scholars assume that the meaning and usage of the term "Rabbi" at the time of Jesus differed from the meaning which it acquired after the destruction of the Temple: in pre-70 times, "Rabbi" was used as an unofficial honorary address for any person held in high esteem; after 70 it was almost exclusively applied to ordained teachers of the Law."
Jewish tradition holds that the title "rabbi" or "rabban" was first used after 70 CE to refer to Yohanan ben Zakkai and his students, and references in Rabbinic texts and the New Testament to rabbis earlier in the 1st century are anachronisms or retroactive honorifics. However, some evidence suggests that the term "rabbi" was a well-known informal title by the beginning of the first century CE, and thus that the pre-70 CE Jewish and Christian references to rabbis reflect the titles used in this period.
The governments of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were based on a system that included the Jewish kings; the Jewish prophets; the legal authority of the high court of Jerusalem, the Great Sanhedrin; and the ritual authority of the priesthood (). Members of the Sanhedrin had to receive their ordination through an unbroken line of transmission from Moses. However, instead of being called "rabbis", they were referred to as "priests" or "scribes", like Ezra, who is called in the Hebrew Bible "Ezra the priest-scribe, a scholar in matters concerning 's commandments and laws to Israel"(Ezra 7:11, Revised JPS Edition). "Rabbi" as a title does not appear in the Hebrew Bible, though later Rabbinic sources occasionally use it as a title for wise biblical figures, as in tractate Pirkei Avot 6:3.
With the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem, the end of the Jewish monarchy, the decline of the dual institutions of prophets and the priesthood, and the later failure of the Bar Kokhba Revolt, the focus of scholarly and spiritual leadership within the Jewish people shifted to the sages of the Great Sanhedrin (). The Great Sanhedrin was composed of the earliest group of "rabbis" in the contemporary sense of the word, in large part because they began the formulation and explication of what became known as Judaism's Oral Torah (). The Oral Torah was eventually codified in the Mishnah, Talmud, and subsequent Rabbinic scholarship, leading to what is known as Rabbinic Judaism.
Talmudic period The traditional explanation is that from the 1st to 5th centuries, the title "rabbi" was given to those sages of the Land of Israel who received formal ordination (semikhah), while the lesser title "rav" was given to sages who taught in the Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, as ordination could not be performed outside the Land of Israel. Sherira Gaon summarized the relationship between these titles as follows: "Rabbi is greater than Rav, Rabban is greater than Rabbi, [and] one's name is greater than Rabban". However, some modern scholars argue that "rabbi" and "rav" are the same title, pronounced differently due to variations in dialect.
After the suppression of the Jewish Patriarchate and Sanhedrin by Theodosius II in 425, there could no longer be formal ordination in the traditional sense. Like the Babylonian sages, a recognised scholar could be called Rav or Hakham (, 'Wise [one]'). The transmission of learning from teacher to disciple remained of tremendous importance, but there was no formal rabbinic qualification.
Middle Ages In the early Middle Ages, "rabbi" was not a formal title, but was used as a term of respect for Jews of great scholarship and reputation. After the emergence of Karaite Judaism, Jews who remained within the purview of normative—i.e., Rabbinic Judaism—became known as "rabbanites". Initially, communities might have had a religious judge appointed by the central geonate, often possessing a certification known as pitka dedayanuta or bearing the title chaver (short for chaver besanhedrin hagedolah, used in Israel) or aluf (used in Babylonia). By the 11th century, as the geonate weakened it was common for Jewish communities to elect a local spiritual authority. In the 11th–12th century, some local rabbinic authorities in Spain received formal certification known as ketav masmich or ketav minui in preparation for their leadership role. Maimonides ruled that every congregation is obliged to appoint a preacher and scholar to admonish the community and teach Torah, and the social institution he describes is the germ of the modern congregational rabbinate.
Until the mid-14th-century Black Death pandemic, Ashkenazi communities typically made religious decisions by consensus of scholars on a council, rather than the decision of a single authority.Rosensweig, Bernard. "The Emergence of the Professional Rabbi in Ashkenazic Jewry". Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, vol. 11, no. 3, 1970, pp. 22–30. In the 14th century, the concept arose of a single person who served as the religious authority for a particular area (the mara de'atra). Formal ordination is first recorded among Ashkenazim with Meir ben Baruch Halevi (late 14th century), who issued the formal title Moreinu (our teacher) to scholars. However, it likely existed somewhat earlier.Meir ben Baruch Ha-Levi By the 15th century, this formal ordination, known as semicha, had become a requirement to be recognized as a rabbi. Initially, some Sephardic communities objected to such formal ordination, but over time they too adopted the system.
18th–19th centuries A dramatic change in rabbinic functions occurred with Jewish emancipation. Tasks that were once the primary focus for rabbis, such as settling disputes by presiding over a Jewish court, became less prominent, while other tasks that had been secondary, such as delivering sermons, increased in importance.
In 19th-century Germany and the United States, the duties of the rabbi in some respects became increasingly similar to the duties of other clergy, such as the Protestant Christian minister, and the title "pulpit rabbis" arose to describe this phenomenon. Sermons, pastoral counseling, and representing the congregation to the community all increased in importance. Non-Orthodox rabbis, on a day-to-day business basis, now spend more time on these functions than they do teaching or answering questions on Jewish law and philosophy. Within the Modern Orthodox community, many rabbis still mainly deal with teaching and questions of Jewish law, but many are increasingly dealing with these same pastoral functions.Zef Eleff, Modern Orthodox Judaism: A Documentary History, p. 247, quote: "In the 1980s, rabbis and congregants replaced the "scholar-rabbi" with the "pastor-rabbi." With greater frequency, rabbinic search committees asked Orthodox seminaries to supply them with candidates who possessed excellent pastoral skills and deemphasized the importance of intellectual attainment."