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There are a number of honorifics in Judaism that vary depending on the status of, and the relationship to, the person to whom one is referring.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(August 2018) |
There are a number of honorifics in Judaism that vary depending on the status of, and the relationship to, the person to whom one is referring.
Ḥasīd is a Jewish honorific, frequently used as a term of exceptional respect in the Talmudic and early medieval periods.
The word Rabbi means "master" and is traditionally used for a religious teacher. In English in particular, it came to be commonly used to refer to any ordained Jewish scholar.
In Israel, among the Haredim, Rabbi can be used colloquially interchangeably with the Yiddish Reb, and is used as a friendly title, similar to calling someone "Sir". Lastly it is also used when referring to the Tannaim.
"Rav" is the Hebrew word for "master". "Rav" can be used as a generic honorific for a teacher or a personal spiritual guide, similar to Rabbi.
In Modern Hebrew, Rav is used for all rabbis. The word can also be used as a prefix to a profession or title to show high rank or proficiency. For example: רב חובל, rav-sailor, meaning ship captain, or רב אומן, rav-artist, meaning master of a craft or art.
In the Orthodox non-Hebrew speaking world, "Rabbi" is often used as a lesser title, reserving the title "Rav" for more famous rabbis.
When used alone, "the Rav" refers to the posek (Jewish legal decisor) whom the speaker usually consults, or, in Modern-Orthodox communities, to Joseph B. Soloveitchik.
In some communities, "Rav" is also used like "Reb". This is common in Judeo-Czech.
Rebbe may refer to the leader of a Hasidic Judaism movement, a person's main rosh yeshiva (in most institutions, the dean of the academy; at others, such as RIETS, a sort of tenured lecturer) or mentor, or to an elementary school teacher as referred to by his/her students.
In many Hasidic groups the Rebbe gives spiritual guidance; but for questions of halakhah they ask a Rav. This Rav is sometimes referred to as the Rav of the Hasidic group. This position normally is occupied by the Av Beis Din or chief justice, of a Hasidic group. In some Hasidic groups, such as Belz and Satmar, the Rebbe and Rav are concurrent positions. In Hasidic groups with similar organizations, the Admo"r will be referred to by the interchangeable titles. In those groups where the positions are divided, they will not. For example, the Satmar Rav and the Satmar Rebbe are the same person. The Breslover Rebbe and the Breslover Rav are not.
Tzadik is a honorific title in Judaism given to people considered righteous, such as biblical figures and later spiritual masters. When applied to a righteous woman, the term is inflected as tzadeket.
Mar (מר, Aramaic for "master") was a high honorific for teachers and Exilarchs in the Talmudic and Geonic periods, but Modern Hebrew adopted it as "Mr.".
The Geonim used the double title "Mar-Rav" for heads of Talmudic academies.
A synonymous variant (cf. Rabbi, Rabban) used for modern Sephardic rabbis.
The possessive form "our master," a variant preferred by the Rishonim and still in use today. Often combined with "rabbi" for Marana veRabbana.
Originally a formal title for one of the geonim. Since the medieval period given to any great rabbi. In Modern Hebrew reinterpreted as secular "genius".
Other honorifics include Admo"r, K'vod K'dushas, Shlit"a and Shy'.
Hebrew honorific for a teacher. Morah is feminine, and can be used for any teacher; Moreh is masculine, and typically reserved for non-Judaics subjects (where Rav or Rabbi is used irrespective of ordination status). However, a male rabbi may also be called by the homophone Mara d'Atra, which is Aramaic for "master of the place".
"Admor" is a modern acronym for "Adonainu, Morainu, VeRabbeinu", a phrase meaning "Our Master, Our Teacher, and Our Rabbi". This is an honorific title given to scholarly leaders of a Jewish community, exclusively to Hasidic rebbes. In writing, this title is placed before the name, as in "Admor of Pinsk" or "R' (stands for Rabbi, Rabbeinu, Rav, or Reb) Ploni Almoni, Admor of Redomsk".
This term is used to point to a leader of the generation, for example, Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman was considered one until his death in 2017.
"Hakham" (wise one) is an alternate title for rabbis (especially Sephardic ones) but also includes some sages (such as ben Zoma and ben Azzai) who were never formally ordained. It is also the primary title of Karaite spiritual leaders, perhaps on the Sephardic model but also to emphasize their role as advisors rather than authorities.
"K'vod K'dushat", meaning "The honor of [his] holiness". This title is usually placed before the name. It is found as early as in the 1531 edition of the Arukh. [1]
The word "Maskil" מַשְׂכִּיל or "ha-maskil" indicates a scholar or an "enlightened man", used before the name. It was also used for activists in the Haskalah movement of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Beta Israel community of Ethiopia refers to its spiritual leaders as Qessochቄሶች, sometimes translated as "pastors" or "sages". A single sage would be a Qessቄስ. Qessoch are also known as kahənatካሀንት, which literally translates to "priests". Unlike the Hebrew kohen , an Ethiopian kahən is not necessarily of Aaronide descent. [2]
Shlit"a (שליט"א SHLYT"A), originally a medieval Aramaic honorific שליטא shlita meaning "the master", [a] reached widespread European adoption in the sixteenth century (along with Hebrew שליט shalit). [b] By the start of the seventeenth century, following the suggestion of Moses Isserles, it was reinterpreted as an acronym for Sheyikhye Le'orech Yamim Tovim Amen, "May he live a good long life, Amen", a euphemism for "the one with that name who is still alive". [4] [c] Having reverted to the original meaning, it is now placed after the name of any revered rabbi, especially one with whom the speaker has a personal connection, but the gershayim (indicating an acronym) is still often used.
Examples:
"Shy'" is an acronym for "Sheyikhye", meaning "May he live". This title is usually placed after the name.
In reference to Levite descent. Used preceding surname.
When calling a man to read the Levite (second) portion of the Torah service, he is called by his Hebrew name, followed by "HaLevi" ("the Levite"). For example, a person of Levite descent named Joshua Rosenberg (Hebrew given name "Yehoshua"), whose father's given name is/was Abraham (Hebrew given name "Avraham"), would be called to the Torah as "Yehoshua ben Avraham, HaLevi.”
In reference to priestly descent. Used preceding surname.
When calling a man to read the priestly (first) portion of the Torah service, he is called by his Hebrew name, followed by "HaKohen" ("the priest"). For example, a person of priestly descent named Aaron Katz (Hebrew given name "Ahron"), whose father's given name is/was Jacob (Hebrew given name "Yakov"), would be called to the Torah as "Ahron ben Yakov, HaKohen").
Hasidism or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those affiliated with the movement, known as hassidim, reside in Israel and in the United States.
A rabbi is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as semikha—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic and Talmudic eras, when learned teachers 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", and in 19th-century Germany and the United States rabbinic activities including sermons, pastoral counseling, and representing the community to the outside, all increased in importance.
A yeshiva is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha, while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The studying is usually done through daily shiurim as well as in study pairs called chavrusas. Chavrusa-style learning is one of the unique features of the yeshiva.
Abraham Isaac Kook, known as HaRav Kook, and also known by the Hebrew-language acronym Hara'ayah, was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. He is considered to be one of the fathers of religious Zionism and is known for founding the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva.
A Rebbe or Admor is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties. The titles of Rebbe and Admor, which used to be a general honorific even before the beginning of the movement, became, over time, almost exclusively identified with its Tzadikim.
Shneur Zalman of Liadi, commonly known as the Alter Rebbe or Baal Hatanya, was a rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism. He wrote many works and is best known for Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Tanya, and his Siddur Torah Or, compiled according to the Nusach Ari.
Semikhah is the traditional Jewish name for rabbinic ordination.
In Jewish law and history, Acharonim are the leading rabbis and poskim living from roughly the 16th century to the present, and more specifically since the writing of the Shulchan Aruch in 1563 CE.
Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter, also known by the title of his main work, the Sfas Emes or Sefat Emetשפת אמת, was a Hasidic rabbi who succeeded his grandfather, Rabbi Yitzchak Meir Alter, as the Av beis din and Rav of Góra Kalwaria, Poland, and succeeded Rabbi Chanokh Heynekh HaKohen Levin of Aleksander as Rebbe of the Gerrer Hasidim.
Boston is a Hasidic dynasty, originally established in 1915 by Rabbi Pinchas David Horowitz, a scion of the Nikolsburg Hasidic dynasty. Following the custom of European Chassidic Courts, where the Rebbe was called after the name of his city, the Bostoner branch of Hasidic Judaism was named after Boston, Massachusetts. The most senior and well-known of the Bostoner Rebbes in contemporary times was Grand Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Horowitz, who died in December 2009.
Yissachar Dov Rokeach is the fifth, and present, Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Belz. He is the son of Rabbi Mordechai of Bilgoray, the grandson of the third Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Yissachar Dov Rokeach, and the nephew of the fourth Belzer Rebbe, Rabbi Aharon Rokeach, who raised him. He has led Belz since 1966.
Meir ben Todros HaLevi Abulafia, also known as the Ramah, was a major Sephardic Talmudist and Halachic authority in medieval Spain.
Rav is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah or is a Jewish spiritual guide or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot states (1:6) that:
(..) Joshua ben Perachiah says, "Set up a teacher [RaB] for yourself. And get yourself a friend [HaBeR]. And give everybody the benefit of the doubt."
Gadol or godol is used by religious Jews to refer to the most revered rabbis of the generation.
Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok is a Hasidic group located in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood. It is an offshoot of the Hasidic group Toldos Aharon, which is in turn an offshoot of Shomer Emunim. It is led by its Rebbe, Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Kohn.
Elazar Mordechai Koenig was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and the spiritual leader of the Breslov Hasidic community in Safed, Israel.
Sifrei Kodesh, commonly referred to as sefarim, or in its singular form, sefer, are books of Jewish religious literature and are viewed by religious Jews as sacred. These are generally works of Torah literature, i.e. Tanakh and all works that expound on it, including the Mishnah, Midrash, Talmud, and all works of Musar, Hasidism, Kabbalah, or machshavah. Historically, sifrei kodesh were generally written in Hebrew with some in Judeo-Aramaic or Arabic, although in recent years, thousands of titles in other languages, most notably English, were published. An alternative spelling for 'sefarim' is seforim.
A bat-kohen or bat kohen is the daughter of a kohen, who holds a special status in the Hebrew Bible and rabbinical texts. She is entitled to a number of rights and is encouraged to abide by specified requirements, for example, entitlement to consume some of the priestly gifts, and an increased value for her ketubah.
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