Rabbi

Rabbi (Hebrew, “my master”), honorary title of the Jewish masters of the Law. The title was first applied after the disputes between the schools of the Jewish rabbi and scribe Shammai and the Jewish rabbi and teacher Hillel. It was in use at the time of Jesus Christ, who was himself addressed as such. The title is still maintained, though not strictly, as the official designation of Jewish ministers.

The rabbi was at once student, interpreter, and teacher of the Torah, and to prepare men for this varied role great yeshivas, or academies, were founded in ancient times in Palestine, at Jamnia (now Yavne) and Tiberias (both now in Israel); and in Babylonia, at Sura, Nehardea, and Pumbedita. Such rabbinical academies existed in all the countries of the Diaspora into modern times.

Today, most rabbis are more preachers and pastors than legal authorities. Although academies of the old style continue to exist, institutions of a new kind, rabbinical seminaries, have grown up beside them.

Traditionally, only men could become rabbis. In recent decades, however, Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist seminaries have begun to ordain significant numbers of women.