: a Jew qualified to expound and apply the halacha and other Jewish law
3
: a Jew trained and ordained for professional religious leadership
specifically: the official leader of a Jewish congregation
Examples of rabbi in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the WebThe young rabbi also risked being blacklisted for starting a nondenominational community that has since grown to more than 1,200 households.—Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times, 16 Apr. 2024 Lieberman asked his wife on the ride home from the event, per the rabbi's retelling.—Virginia Chamlee, Peoplemag, 28 Mar. 2024 The experience spurred Zac Kamenetz, a rabbi from Berkeley, to start an organization that integrates psychedelics into Judaism.—Brendan Borrell, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024 One client, for example, needed a last-minute, after-midnight jewelry store appointment in Lima to pick out his wife’s present, and another requested a strict kosher trip to Argentina with dinner at a local rabbi’s home.
12.—The Editors, Robb Report, 13 Mar. 2024 Sari Laufer is a rabbi at Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles, which puts on spiels and carnivals.—Deena Prichep, NPR, 23 Mar. 2024 The following year, Bene Israel hired Max Lilienthal, another modern rabbi from Munich and a friend of Wise, as the congregation’s first permanent rabbi.—Jeff Suess, The Enquirer, 21 Jan. 2024 She was arrested again in August 1943, along with Behrens and Dr. Fred Thomas, a Detroit obstetrician and a Nazi fanatic known for hectoring a rabbi with antisemitic propaganda.—Jack Kresnak, Detroit Free Press, 21 Jan. 2024 In the days after Oct. 7, the Shalom Center began planning for how this Purim would be different, said Nate DeGroot, a rabbi and its associate director.—Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rabbi.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Greek rhabbi, from Hebrew rabbī my master, from rabh master + -ī my
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of rabbi was
before the 12th century
: a professionally trained leader of a Jewish congregation
rabbinic
rə-ˈbin-ik
ra-
adjective
or rabbinical
-i-kəl
Etymology
Old English rabbi "term of address used for Jewish religious leaders," from Latin rabbi (same meaning), from Greek rhabbi (same meaning), from Hebrew rabbī "my master," from rabh "master" and the suffix -ī "my"
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