Rebbe

Rebbe (Hebrew: רבי‎) /ˈrɛbə/, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word rabbi, which means "master, teacher, or mentor". Like the title "rabbi" it refers to teachers of Torah or leaders of Jewry.

In common parlance of modern times, the term "The Rebbe" is often used specifically by Hasidim to refer to the leader of their Hasidic movement.

Terminology and origin

The Yiddish term rebbe comes from the Hebrew word rabbi, meaning "My Master", which is the way a student would address a master of Torah. It was an honorific originally given to those who had Smicha in the Pharisaic and Talmudic era. Since vowels were not written at the time, it is impossible to know historically whether it was pronounced rah-bee (/ˈrɑːbi/) or r-bee (/ˈrɛbi/). The English word rabbi (/ˈræbaɪ/) comes directly from this form. In Yiddish, the word became reb-eh (/ˈrɛbɛ/)—now commonly spelled rebbe (/ˈrɛbə/—or just reb (/ˈrɛb/). The word master רב rav [ˈʁäv] literally means "great one".

The Sages of the Mishnah known as the Tannaim, from the 1st and 2nd centuries of the common era, were known by the title Rabbi (/ˈræbi/) (for example, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochoy). Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, the leader of Jewry in Mishnaic Times, was simply called Rabbi (/ˈræbi/), as being the rabbi par excellence of his generation.