rabbi
, in
Judaism
, a person qualified by academic studies of the
Hebrew Bible
and the
Talmud
to act as spiritual leader and religious teacher of a Jewish
community
or congregation.
Ordination
(certification as a rabbi) can be conferred by any rabbi, but one’s teacher customarily performs this function by issuing a written statement. Ordination carries with it no special religious status. For many generations the education of a rabbi consisted almost exclusively of Talmudic studies, but since the 19th century the necessity and value of a well-rounded, general education has been recognized.
Whereas rabbis assist at all religious
marriages
, their presence at most other ceremonies is not required. Nonetheless, they generally conduct religious services, assist at
bar mitzvahs
and bat
mitzvahs
, and are present at funerals and sometimes
circumcisions
. In questions of
divorce
, a rabbi’s role depends on an appointment to a special court of
Jewish law
.
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Judaism: The role of the rabbis
A rabbi also preaches on occasion and
counsels
and consoles as needs arise. A rabbi has responsibility for the total religious education of the young, but the extent of the rabbi’s participation, beyond the realm of general supervision, is dictated by local circumstances. Modern rabbis are likewise involved in social and philanthropic works and are expected to lend support to any project sponsored by their congregations.
In some cases, rabbis function on a part-time basis, devoting the major portion of their energies to a
secular
profession. Because rabbis do not have sacerdotal status, many functions that they normally perform may be assumed by others who, although not ordained, are qualified to conduct the religious ceremonies with devotion and exactitude.
By 100
ce
the term
rabbi
was in general use to denote a sage?i.e., an interpreter of Jewish law, and in early literature it appears in various forms.
Jesus
, for example, was sometimes called rabbi (John 1:49, 9:2) or
rabboni
(John 20:16) by his followers, while presidents of the
Sanhedrins
(Jewish councils in Palestine under Roman rule) were called
rabban
(“our master”). Similarly,
Judah ha-Nasi
, the codifier of the
Mishna
(
c.
200
ce
), the oldest postbiblical collection of Jewish oral laws, was called
rabbenu
(“our teacher”).
Gradually, salaried rabbi-judges and unsalaried rabbi-teachers (interpreters of Jewish law) came to perform routine services for their
communities
. From the 14th century, rabbi-teachers were receiving salaries (as rabbis generally do today) to free them from other obligations. Also in this period there began the tradition of submission of local scholars to their community’s rabbi.
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Chief rabbis came into prominence in
medieval
Europe but found little favour with the Jewish communities that they represented, because most of them held their posts as appointees of the civil government. Of the chief rabbinates that survive today, that in
Israel
has a rabbinic council with two chief rabbis, one representing the
Sephardic
(Spanish) rite, the other the
Ashkenazi
(German). There is no central rabbinate for Jewry as a whole.