What Is a Rabbi? Role, Semikha and Chief Rabbi

People often picture a rabbi as a kind of “Jewish priest”: the one who leads prayer, marries couples and speaks in G-d’s name. The picture is not entirely wrong, but it misses the essential point. What exactly is a rabbi? Where does the title come from, what does a rabbi actually do, what is a chief rabbi, and how does one become a rabbi? Here is a complete answer, with sources from the Torah and the Talmud, the history of the role and its deeper meaning.

In short: the word rabbi comes from the Hebrew rav, “master”, and rabbi, “my master”. A rabbi is neither a priest nor an intermediary between man and G-d: he is a Torah scholar, recognized by his own teachers as able to teach and to rule on questions of Jewish law (halakha). His authority does not come from his birth or from a sacrament, but from his knowledge, his integrity and the chain of transmission that, according to tradition, goes back to Moshe (Moses) at Sinai. He teaches, answers practical questions, guides a community, often officiates at weddings and stands by families in mourning. One becomes a rabbi after long years of study, crowned by an ordination called semikha. A chief rabbi is the rabbi who stands at the head of the rabbis of a city or a country.

The word “rabbi”: from rav to rabbi

In Hebrew, the word rav first means “great” or “many”. Very early on it took on the meaning of “master”: someone great in knowledge. Rabbi literally means “my master”: this is how a student addressed the person who taught him, before the word became a title. The English “rabbi” comes directly from this Hebrew form (the French “rabbin” went through the medieval Latin rabbinus). In communities people also say “the Rav”; Sephardic Jews often use the title Hakham, “sage”, and Hasidim call their spiritual master the Rebbe.

The Torah itself does not know this title. Moshe, the greatest of the prophets, is never called “rabbi” in the biblical text. But tradition gave him the name Moshe Rabbenu, “Moshe our master”: not “our king” or “our liberator”, but our teacher. That alone is a whole definition. The first rabbi of the Jewish people is the one who handed down the Torah to it.

In the time of the Talmud, the titles became more precise. The Sages of the Land of Israel, who had received full ordination, were called Rabbi (Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Meir); those of Babylonia, Rav (Rav Ashi, Rav Papa). The presidents of the Sanhedrin, descendants of Hillel, bore the title Rabban (Rabban Gamliel, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai). And the earliest masters, such as Hillel or Shammai, had no title at all: their name was enough. The Tosefta puts it in its own way: “Whoever has disciples is called Rabbi; when his disciples are forgotten, he is called Rabban; when both these and those are forgotten, he is called by his name” (Tosefta Eduyot 3:4). Rav Raphaël Benizri comments on this ladder of titles, as we will see below.

What the Torah says: judges, elders, teachers

Although the Torah does not speak of “rabbis”, it lays the foundations of their role. First, it provides for judges: “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your cities” (Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16:18). It then commands that one turn to the Torah authorities when a legal question is too difficult: “You shall come to the kohanim, the Levites, and to the judge who will be in those days […]; you shall act according to the law they teach you and according to the judgment they tell you; you shall not turn aside from what they tell you, either to the right or to the left” (Devarim 17:9-11). It is from this passage that the Talmud derives the authority of the Sages to interpret the Torah.

The Torah also establishes an assembly of seventy elders to assist Moshe: “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel […], I will take of the spirit that is upon you and place it upon them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with you” (Bamidbar (Numbers) 11:16-17). This is the model for the Sanhedrin, the great court of seventy-one judges that would later sit in Jerusalem.

Above all, the Torah tells of the very first semikha, or ordination. Before his death, Moshe asks G-d for a successor, and G-d answers him: “Take Yehoshua (Joshua) son of Nun, a man in whom there is spirit, and lay your hand upon him” (Bamidbar 27:18). Moshe “laid his hands upon him and commanded him” (27:23). The book of Devarim concludes: “Yehoshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moshe had laid his hands upon him” (Devarim 34:9). The word semikha means precisely “leaning”: the master leans his hands on the student and passes on to him both his knowledge and his authority.

Finally, the prophets recall that teaching Torah is a sacred mission. Moshe blesses the tribe of Levi, saying: “They shall teach Your laws to Yaakov and Your Torah to Israel” (Devarim 33:10). And the prophet Malakhi (Malachi) declares: “The lips of the kohen guard knowledge, and Torah is sought from his mouth, for he is a messenger of the L-rd of Hosts” (Malakhi 2:7). The Talmud applies this verse to every Torah teacher: one should learn only from a master who resembles a “messenger of G-d”, that is, one whose conduct lives up to his knowledge (Moed Katan 17a).

The chain of transmission

The tractate Pirkei Avot, the “Ethics of the Fathers”, opens with a sentence that sums up the whole legitimacy of the rabbi: “Moshe received the Torah at Sinai and handed it down to Yehoshua, Yehoshua to the Elders, the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets handed it down to the men of the Great Assembly” (Pirkei Avot 1:1). The rest of the chapter lists the “pairs” of masters who received this teaching, up to Hillel and Shammai, and then Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai.

A rabbi is therefore not an independent thinker offering his personal opinion. He is a link. He received from a master, who had received from another master, and he must in turn faithfully pass on what he received. That is why, in the Talmud, statements are always quoted “in the name of” the person who said them: “Whoever reports a saying in the name of the one who said it brings redemption to the world” (Pirkei Avot 6:6).

Ordination in antiquity

In the era of the Mishnah and the Talmud, semikha was a precise legal institution. Only an ordained master could ordain another; a panel of three was required, and ordination could take place only in the Land of Israel (Talmud, Sanhedrin 13b-14a; Rambam (Maimonides), Hilchot Sanhedrin 4:1-6). Only judges ordained in this way could try cases involving the fines and penalties set out by the Torah.

The Talmud relates that the Roman Empire, seeking to crush Judaism after the Bar Kokhba revolt, banned ordination on pain of death: whoever ordained would be killed, whoever was ordained would be killed, and the town where an ordination took place would be destroyed. Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava went and sat between two mountains, far from any town, and ordained five disciples, among them Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Shimon. When the soldiers arrived, he told his students to flee; he himself stayed, and was pierced by three hundred spears (Sanhedrin 14a). The transmission of the Torah was sometimes paid for with a life.

An ordination “of transmission”

With the decline of the communities in the Land of Israel, this ancient ordination came to an end, toward the close of the Talmudic era. What is called semikha today is no longer the legal ordination passed from Moshe to Yehoshua, but an authorization to teach: one or more masters attest that the student is able to rule on the law. The Talmud already knows the formula: when Rabba bar Hana left for Babylonia, they asked: “Yoreh?” (May he teach the law?) “Yoreh!” “Yadin?” (May he judge?) “Yadin!” (Sanhedrin 5a). These two words have remained: a rabbinic diploma is still called yoreh yoreh today, and that of a rabbinic judge yadin yadin.

The Rambam considered the possibility of one day restoring the ancient ordination, if all the Sages of the Land of Israel agreed to appoint one of their number (Hilchot Sanhedrin 4:11). In 1538, in Safed, Rav Yaakov Beirav attempted to do so and ordained several masters, among them Rav Yosef Karo, the author of the Shulchan Arukh. But other rabbis, notably Rav Levi ben Habib of Jerusalem, opposed it, and the attempt failed. For this restoration, Judaism awaits the return of a Sanhedrin.

What does a rabbi do?

The role of the rabbi has varied across eras and communities, but it can be described through a few main functions.

Teaching. This is his primary function. The rabbi gives classes in Torah, Talmud, halakha and Jewish thought, to adults and children alike. In the tradition, a rabbi who does not teach has lost his reason for being.
Answering questions of law. Is this pot still kosher? How should Shabbat be managed in a particular situation? How are the mourning laws kept when a festival falls during the week of shiva? The rabbi is the one who “rules” (posek), relying on the Talmud, the codes and the halakhic authorities. His written answers, the responsa (she’elot u-teshuvot), have formed an immense body of literature for more than a thousand years.
Judging. Some rabbis sit as dayanim, judges, in a rabbinic court, the beit din. They deal with religious divorces, conversions, or disputes between people who choose to be judged according to the Torah.
Guiding a community. The community rabbi watches over religious life: the synagogue, education, kashrut, the ritual bath (mikveh). He is also a counselor and a listening ear, in times of joy as in times of hardship.
Accompanying the great stages of life. He often officiates at weddings, delivers eulogies, comforts mourners and prepares young people for their bar mitzvah.

It is worth noting what a rabbi is not. He is not a required intermediary between man and G-d: every Jew can pray directly, in the synagogue or at home, and communal prayer can be led by any competent member of the congregation. He does not administer sacraments, hear confession or absolve sins: teshuva, the return to G-d, is each person’s own business. Even a Jewish wedding is not performed “by” the rabbi: it is the bride and groom who bind themselves to each other before two witnesses, and the rabbi simply makes sure that everything is done according to the law.

Nor should the rabbi be confused with other roles. The kohen is a descendant of Aharon (Aaron), a priest by birth, not by learning. The hazzan is the cantor who leads the prayers. The mohel performs circumcision, the shochet ritual slaughter. One person may combine several of these roles, but they are distinct functions.

The scholar before the title

The Talmud gives learning a surprising place: “A mamzer (a child born of a forbidden union) who is a Torah scholar takes precedence over an ignorant high priest” (Mishnah Horayot 3:8; Talmud, Horayot 13a). Birth, however prestigious, does not confer authority; the Torah, by contrast, is open to all. The Rambam puts it this way: the crown of priesthood was given to Aharon, the crown of kingship to David, but “the crown of Torah lies ready for anyone who wishes to take it” (Hilchot Talmud Torah 3:1).

Teacher and student leaning over the same book: “Make for yourself a teacher” (Pirkei Avot 1:6).

How does one become a rabbi?

There is no single path, but every path goes through the same door: study. A future rabbi generally spends many years in a yeshiva, a Talmudic academy, and then often in a kollel, where married men study full time. There he learns the Talmud in depth, with its commentators, and then the codes of law, the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah and above all the Shulchan Arukh, together with the great halakhic authorities who came after it.

Semikha examinations traditionally cover specific areas of the law, those in which a community rabbi is most often consulted: the laws of kashrut (mixtures of milk and meat, salting meat, doubtful foods), the laws of family purity, and those of Shabbat and mourning. The student must show that he knows the sources and can reason from them. One or more recognized rabbis then issue him a certificate, often written in Hebrew: the semikha.

Depending on the country, institutions organize this course of study. In Israel, the Chief Rabbinate holds official examinations, which are required to serve as a city rabbi or a rabbinic judge. In France, the Séminaire israélite de France, heir to the rabbinical school founded in Metz in 1829 and moved to Paris in 1859, trains the rabbis of the Consistoire. Many rabbis also receive their semikha directly from great yeshiva heads, in Israel or elsewhere.

But the tradition insists: a diploma is not enough. Pirkei Avot lists forty-eight qualities through which the Torah is “acquired”, among them humility, joy, patience, serving the Sages, love of all creatures, and “loving rebuke” (Pirkei Avot 6:6). The Talmud adds that one only truly becomes a master by remaining a student: “I have learned much from my teachers, more from my colleagues, and from my students more than from all of them” (Taanit 7a).

Finally, contrary to a widespread belief, a rabbi is not a celibate cleric. In Judaism, family life is part of holiness: the vast majority of rabbis are married with children. The rabbi’s wife, often called the rabbanit, frequently plays an important role in teaching and in the life of the community.

What is a chief rabbi?

The title of chief rabbi generally refers to the rabbi who stands at the head of the rabbis of a city, a region or a country. It is not a “higher” degree of ordination but a function: he represents the community, coordinates the rabbis and rules on major questions of principle.

In France: the Consistoire

In France, the title was born of a political decision. In 1806-1807, Napoleon convened an Assembly of Jewish Notables, and then a “Grand Sanhedrin”, to define the place of Jews within the state. Through the decrees of March 17, 1808, he organized Jewish worship into consistoires, with a Central Consistoire in Paris. Since then, the Chief Rabbi of France has presided over the consistorial rabbinate; there are also regional chief rabbis (Paris, Strasbourg, Lyon, Marseille…). The Chief Rabbi of France is elected by an assembly of community representatives; Rav Haïm Korsia has held this office since 2014.

In Israel: the Chief Rabbinate

In the Land of Israel, the Ottoman Empire already recognized a religious leader, the Hakham Bashi. Under the British Mandate, in 1921, the Chief Rabbinate (Rabbanut HaRashit) was created, with two chief rabbis: an Ashkenazi, Rav Avraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook, and a Sephardi, Rav Yaakov Meir, who bore the traditional title of Rishon LeZion, “the first of Zion”. This dual leadership still exists: in 2024, Rav Kalman Ber was elected Ashkenazi chief rabbi and Rav David Yosef Sephardi chief rabbi. Among other things, the Chief Rabbinate oversees the rabbinic courts, marriages and official kashrut supervision.

Authority that is not elected

Alongside these official posts, there is another kind of authority, one that is not elected: the authority a community spontaneously grants a master for his learning and his holiness. Such a figure is called a “great one of the generation”. Rav Ovadia Yosef, Rav Moshe Feinstein or the Chafetz Chaim wielded immense influence, often far beyond the titles they held. In Judaism, the supreme authority is not that of the office, but that of the Torah.

Earning a living from Torah? An old question

May one be paid for teaching Torah? The question is as old as the role itself. Shemaya, one of the masters in the chain of Pirkei Avot, taught: “Love work and hate rabbanut” (Pirkei Avot 1:10), a word that refers to the position of master and leader. And Rabbi Tzadok: “Do not make the Torah a crown with which to glorify yourself, nor a spade with which to dig” (Pirkei Avot 4:5).

Almost all the Sages of the Talmud had a trade. Hillel was a day laborer who earned a small coin a day (Yoma 35b); Rabbi Yehoshua made his living from work so hard that the walls of his house were blackened by it (Berakhot 28a). The Rambam is categorical: whoever decides to study Torah without working, living off charity, “desecrates the Divine Name and despises the Torah” (Hilchot Talmud Torah 3:10). He himself practiced medicine.

But the living conditions of Jewish communities changed. In the Middle Ages, it became impossible to serve a community full time while earning a living in some other way. Halakhic authorities such as Rav Shimon ben Tzemach Duran in the fifteenth century, and later Rav Yosef Karo in his commentary Kesef Mishneh on this passage of the Rambam, justified the rabbi receiving a salary: not for the Torah itself, but for the time he devotes to the community and which keeps him from earning a living. This is the general practice today. The ideal, however, remains: the Torah must never become a business.

The respect due to a teacher, and its limits

The tradition demands deep respect for one’s Torah teacher. Rabbi Elazar ben Shamua teaches: “Let the fear of your teacher be like the fear of Heaven” (Pirkei Avot 4:12). The Mishnah goes so far as to say that if one finds both an object lost by one’s father and one lost by one’s teacher, one returns the teacher’s first, “for his father brought him into this world, but his teacher, who taught him wisdom, brings him into the World to Come” (Mishnah Bava Metzia 2:11). From this the Rambam derives the rule that the honor due to one’s teacher exceeds that due to one’s father (Hilchot Talmud Torah 5:1). The Shulchan Arukh devotes several chapters to these laws (Yoreh De’ah 242-244).

This respect has a purpose: to make transmission possible. That is why Pirkei Avot commands, twice: “Make for yourself a teacher” (Pirkei Avot 1:6 and 1:16). Everyone, even a scholar, needs a rabbi with whom to check his decisions and before whom to remain humble.

But respect does not mean infallibility. The Talmud constantly debates the opinions of the greatest masters, and rejects many of them. In a famous story, Rabbi Eliezer invokes miracles, and then a heavenly voice, to prove that he is right against the majority; Rabbi Yehoshua replies: “It is not in heaven” (Devarim 30:12), and the law follows the majority of the Sages (Bava Metzia 59b). A rabbi’s authority is that of reasoning grounded in the Torah, not that of a personal revelation. Conversely, the Talmud does not spare proud or unjust masters: a scholar who shames the Torah by his conduct commits a desecration of the Divine Name (Yoma 86a).

What Rav Raphaël Benizri teaches

Rav Raphaël Benizri devoted a long series of classes to Pirkei Avot, in which the figure of the teacher comes up again and again. Here is what he says about it, faithfully summarized.

Rav, Rabbi, Rabban: the ladder of titles

In Pirkei Avot 5: serving without reward, speaking of a master of the Mishnah who bears the title Rabban, the Rav recalls the hierarchy of titles: “First Rav, then Rabbi, then Rabban, and then there is no longer any title.” Rav is the modest title of the teacher facing his student. Rabbi is when the student has adopted him and refers to him: he becomes “his” rabbi, “my master”. Rabban is when he is the master of a whole group, of a community that recognizes itself in him. But when he becomes the point of reference for all of humanity, he no longer even needs the title Rabban: his name alone is enough. In this reading, a rabbi is defined not by a diploma, but by the relationship he creates with those who learn from him.

“Make for yourself a teacher”

In Pirkei Avot: a teacher, a friend, a judgment, the Rav studies the saying of Yehoshua ben Perachia: “Make for yourself a teacher, acquire for yourself a friend, and judge every person favorably” (Pirkei Avot 1:6). He points out that the two verbs do not say the same thing. The verb used for the teacher is one of compulsion: the teacher is imposed, just as a mitzvah is imposed because it is in the interest of the one who performs it. A friend, on the other hand, is acquired. In front of a teacher, one feels a little awkward, and one does not always want to feel under his authority; that is why one also seeks a friend, a confidant. A teacher cannot always be a friend.

The Rav also stresses the immense responsibility of the teacher in the course of a person’s life. He recalls the Talmudic story of Yehoshua ben Perachia, who pushed a disciple away with an overly harsh gesture, and that disciple, believing himself rejected, went astray. Our responsibility is great in every relationship with others, says the Rav, and greater still for a teacher. And he adds that people are often inclined to judge their teacher severely, to look for his faults: if we want the teacher to remain a teacher, we must know how to close our eyes to certain weaknesses, for, as the verse he quotes says, “there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) 7:20).

Not making the Torah a business

In Pirkei Avot: judging without setting oneself up as a judge and Pirkei Avot: Shemaya and Avtalion, the Rav comments on the saying “love work and hate rabbanut” (Pirkei Avot 1:10). Here, he explains, the word targets making the Torah a source of income: “just as I taught it for free, you must teach it for free”. One may receive compensation for the time one devotes to it, but one must not live at the Torah’s expense. He notes that the French translation preferred to speak of “authority” so as not to offend rabbis who do their work with dedication and self-sacrifice; the meaning then becomes: hate whatever consists of ruling over others, imposing one’s will, exploiting the knowledge of others.

The Sages of old, he recalls, all had a trade. They taught Torah without pay, and were remunerated only insofar as they held rabbinic office and carried public responsibilities. They were in fact known by their profession: one a blacksmith, another a tailor, another a baker.

Men wholly devoted to teaching

That said, the Rav does not reject full-time rabbis. In Pirkei Avot 2: the straight path and a trade, he explains that there must be men entirely devoted to teaching. Just as the Torah chose the kohanim for the Sanctuary, from father to son, the education of a people needs teachers; but their office is not passed down by descent: it comes from the choice of a man who wants to share what he knows. He tells of a plan for a yeshiva of five thousand students, to which someone objected: who will pay them? The answer was that out of those five thousand perhaps a thousand rabbis would emerge, out of those thousand a hundred great rabbis, and out of those a few exceptional masters; but that the essential thing was for there to be people able to understand their language and their demands.

The pride of the scholar

Finally, in Lag BaOmer: the bonfires and the light of the Zohar, the Rav returns to the death of the twenty-four thousand disciples of Rabbi Akiva, “because they did not treat one another with respect” (Yevamot 62b). Each of them, he explains, confined himself to his own teaching and his own perception, unable to make room for the other: his fellow student, the talmid chacham (the scholar) next to him, and all the more so the man in the street. The Rav links this tragedy to the Bar Kokhba revolt, which Rabbi Akiva supported: an army divided by pride cannot hold. The lesson applies to every rabbi: the Torah can only be passed on in mutual respect.

Misconceptions about rabbis

“A rabbi is a Jewish priest.” No. Judaism does have priests, the kohanim, but their role was tied to the Temple in Jerusalem. The rabbi is a teacher and a scholar of Torah law, with no sacramental power.

“You have to go through a rabbi to speak to G-d.” No. Every Jew prays directly. A rabbi can advise, teach and bless, but he is not a required intermediary.

“A rabbi forgives sins.” No. There is no confession to a rabbi. Teshuva takes place between a person and G-d; for wrongs done to others, one must ask forgiveness from the person who was wronged.

“Rabbis don’t marry.” On the contrary: marrying and raising a family is a mitzvah, and almost all rabbis are married.

“What a rabbi says is the word of G-d.” No. The rabbi applies the Torah with his reason, and he can be mistaken. The Talmud is full of debates in which the masters contradict each other, and the rule is to follow the majority and the great recognized halakhic authorities.

“A diploma is all it takes to be a real rabbi.” The tradition demands more: knowledge, but also fear of Heaven, humility and upright conduct. A master whose actions contradict his teaching loses his credibility.

Frequently asked questions about rabbis

What is the difference between a rabbi and a kohen?

A kohen is a descendant of Aharon, the brother of Moshe: he is one by birth, whether he is learned or not. Today he retains a few functions, such as the Priestly Blessing in the synagogue. A rabbi, by contrast, becomes one through study and ordination. A kohen can be a rabbi, but the two are independent of each other.

How do you address a rabbi?

In French, one says “Monsieur le rabbin” or simply “Rav” followed by his name. In Hebrew, he is addressed as “Kevod HaRav”, “honored Rav”. Among Sephardim, “Hakham” is also used or, for an elderly and revered master, “Rabbi”; among Hasidim, the master is “the Rebbe”.

How long does it take to become a rabbi?

There is no fixed length of time, but it generally takes several years of intensive study after a solid grounding in Talmud, often between four and ten years. The learning never really stops: a rabbi remains a student all his life.

Can a woman be a rabbi?

In Orthodox Judaism, the role of rabbi and rabbinic judge is reserved for men, although women teach Torah at a high level and advise on questions of law in certain areas. The Liberal and Reform movements have been ordaining women rabbis since the twentieth century: the first, Regina Jonas, was ordained in Germany in 1935.

Do you need a rabbi to get married?

According to Jewish law, the marriage is concluded by the bride and groom themselves, before two valid witnesses. But since the rules are precise, the universal custom is for a competent rabbi to conduct the ceremony and check the ketubah, the marriage contract. In many countries, including Israel and France, the rabbinic institution organizes these weddings.

What is semikha?

It is rabbinic ordination, from the Hebrew word meaning “leaning”, in memory of the hands that Moshe laid on Yehoshua. Today it is a certificate by which recognized rabbis attest that a student is able to rule on questions of Jewish law (yoreh yoreh) or to judge (yadin yadin).

Can you ask any rabbi a question?

Yes, and it is even recommended: “Make for yourself a teacher” (Pirkei Avot 1:6). It is wise to have a regular rabbi who knows one’s community and its customs. Once you have asked a rabbi a question and received his answer, you do not go to another one to get a more convenient opinion.

Sources and references

Bamidbar (Numbers) 11:16-17; Bamidbar 27:18-23
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 16:18; Devarim 17:9-11; Devarim 30:12; Devarim 33:10; Devarim 34:9
Malakhi (Malachi) 2:7
Pirkei Avot 1:1; 1:6; 1:10; 1:16; 4:5; 4:12; 6:6
Mishnah Bava Metzia 2:11
Mishnah Horayot 3:8
Tosefta Eduyot 3:4
Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 5a; Sanhedrin 13b-14a
Babylonian Talmud, Horayot 13a
Babylonian Talmud, Moed Katan 17a
Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 7a
Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 35b; Yoma 86a
Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 28a
Babylonian Talmud, Bava Metzia 59b
Babylonian Talmud, Yevamot 62b
Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Sanhedrin 4:1-6 and 4:11
Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Talmud Torah 3:1; 3:10; 5:1
Rav Yosef Karo, Kesef Mishneh on Hilchot Talmud Torah 3:10
Rav Shimon ben Tzemach Duran (Tashbetz), responsa, fifteenth century
Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De’ah 242-244
Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) 7:20
Attempt to restore semikha in Safed by Rav Yaakov Beirav (1538)
Imperial decrees of March 17, 1808 organizing Jewish worship in France (Consistoire)
Founding of the Chief Rabbinate of the Land of Israel (1921)
Rav Raphaël Benizri, Pirkei Avot 5: serving without reward
Rav Raphaël Benizri, Pirkei Avot: a teacher, a friend, a judgment
Rav Raphaël Benizri, Pirkei Avot: judging without setting oneself up as a judge
Rav Raphaël Benizri, Pirkei Avot: Shemaya and Avtalion
Rav Raphaël Benizri, Pirkei Avot 2: the straight path and a trade
Rav Raphaël Benizri, Lag BaOmer: the bonfires and the light of the Zohar

Article by the Pensées Juives editorial team. Passages attributed to Rav Raphaël Benizri are taken from his lectures published on this site.

What Is a Rabbi?