Rav

Rav (or Rab, Modern Hebrew: רב‎) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah or is a Jewish spiritual guide or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (in the Talmud) 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."[1][2]

The term rav is also Hebrew for rabbi. (For a more nuanced discussion, see semicha.) The term is frequently used by Orthodox Jews to refer to their own rabbi.

In contemporary Judaism, as the term rabbi has become commonplace, the term rav has come to apply to rabbis with levels of knowledge, experience, and wisdom in excess of those found among the majority of rabbis who serve Jewish congregations as a career. In some cases, rav thus refers to full-time scholars of Torah who do not receive compensation.

  1. ^ Berkson "1:6 Yehoshua ben Perahiah and Nittai of Arbel received from them. Yehoshua ben Perahiah said: Choose for yourself a mentor; acquire for yourself a friend; and judge every person in a favorable light."
  2. ^ The Talmud: what it is and what it says:Jacob Neusner

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