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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.
Talmid Chakham is an honorific title which is given to a man who is well versed in Jewish law, i. e., a Torah scholar.
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.
Other honorifics include Admo"r, K'vod K'dushas, Shlit"a and Shy'.
Hebrew honorific for a teacher, professor, or learned sage. In Hebrew, Moreh is masculine, Morah is feminine. However, a male rabbi may also be called by the homophone Mara d'Atra, which is Aramaic for "master of the place".
"Admor" is an 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, Rav 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", [lower-alpha 1] reached widespread European adoption in the sixteenth century (along with Hebrew שליט shalit). [lower-alpha 2] 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] [lower-alpha 3] 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, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism, is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contemporary Western Ukraine during the 18th century, and spread rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most affiliates reside in Israel and 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.
Abraham Isaac Kook, known as Rav Kook, and also known by the acronym HaRaAYaH, 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 honor title even before the beginning of the movement, became, over time, almost exclusively identified with its Tzaddikim.
Shneur Zalman of Liadi was an influential Lithuanian Jewish rabbi and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Liadi in Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later in the Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire. He was the author of many works, and is best known for Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Tanya, and his Siddur Torah Or compiled according to the Nusach Ari. Zalman is a Yiddish variant of Solomon and Shneur is a Yiddish composite of the two Hebrew words "shnei ohr".
Breslov is a branch of Hasidic Judaism founded by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772–1810), a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism. Its adherents strive to develop an intense, joyous relationship with God, and receive guidance toward this goal from the teachings of Rebbe Nachman.
Bobov is a Hasidic community within Haredi Judaism, originating in Bobowa, Galicia, in southern Poland, and now headquartered in the neighborhood of Borough Park, in Brooklyn, New York.
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.
Shomer Emunim is a devout, insular Hasidic group based in Jerusalem. It was founded in the 20th century by Rabbi Arele (Aharon) Roth.
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.
Rabbi Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum (1808–1883), known as the Yetev Lev, was a Hasidic Rebbe in Austria-Hungary.
There are two Hasidic Jewish dynasties known as Cleveland and both are considered to be a part of the Nadvorna dynasty.
Shlomo is the English form of שְׁלֹמֹה, the Hebrew name of the Israelite King Solomon. It is a popular name among Jews, especially in Israel.
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.
The Malachim is a small Hasidic group. It adheres to the Chabad school of Hasidic thought which emphasizes in-depth Torah study, uses the Chabad nusach of prayer, and focuses on the study of Hasidic mysticism.
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 halakha, 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.
Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky is the third Rebbe of the Dushinsky Hasidic dynasty of Jerusalem, Israel. He assumed the leadership of the Hasidut upon the death of his father, Rabbi Yisroel Moshe Dushinsky, second Dushinsky Rebbe, in 2003. The Dushinsky Hasidic movement was founded by his grandfather and namesake, Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky, in Jerusalem in the 1930s. Both his father and grandfather also served as Gaavad of the Edah HaChareidis.
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