rabbi

plural rabbis · archaic plural rabbies · plural rabbanim · plural rabbanin · plural rabbonim · plural rabbonin · alternative dated rabbin · alternative rabboni

1. JudaismcountableA Jewish scholar or teacher of halacha (Jewish law), capable of making halachic decisions.

   Next, R. Moskowitz brings us to the Slonimer Rebbe, a late 20th century Hasidic rabbi, who taught that the evil of Esav was that very sense of completion, the self-perception that he had no need for growth or further transformation.

   2019 September 10, Rachel Timoner, “Book Review: Textual Activism by Rabbi Mike Moskowitz”, in Tikkun, archived from the original on 06 Dec 2019

2. JudaismcountableA Jew who is the leader or is qualified to be the leader of a Jewish congregation.

   1 more example

   "Elon Musk is spreading the kind of antisemitism that leads to massacres," reads the decree, which was signed by 164 "rabbis, leaders of Jewish organizations, artists, activists, and academics." "And advertisers are funding the platform that allows him to spread his ideology to hundreds of millions [of] people."

   2023 November 17, Maggie Harrison Dupré, “Rabbis Warn That Elon Musk Is Spreading the Type of Antisemitism "That Leads to Massacres””, in Futurism, archived from the original on 24 Mar 2024

3. countableslanggovernmentA senior officer who acts as a mentor.

   Hoskins? He doesn't have a better rabbi in the department than that?

   2006 September 17, David Mills, “Soft Eyes”, in The Wire, season 4, episode 2, spoken by Clarence Royce (Glynn Turman)

   1 more example

   If I'm ever gonna make Captain, I need a good mentor. I need my rabbi.

   2013 September 17, Dan Goor, Michael Schur, “Pilot”, in Brooklyn Nine-Nine, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Amy Santiago (Melissa Fumero)

plural Rabbis

1. The title of a rabbi (a Jewish scholar or teacher); used before or instead of the rabbi's name.

   This past weekend, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach set off a firestorm with his full-page ad in the New York Times accusing National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice of turning a blind eye to the Rwandan genocide when she was on President Bill Clinton’s national security team in the 1990s.

   2015 March 4, Jill Jacobs, “Shmuley Boteach isn’t ‘America’s rabbi’”, in The Washington Post, archived from the original on 29 Apr 2023