A ''gabbai'' ( he, גבאי), also known as ''shamash'' (, sometimes spelled ''shamas'') or warden ( UK, similar to

churchwarden A churchwarden is a lay official in a parish or congregation of the Anglican Communion or Catholic Church, usually working as a part-time volunteer. In the Anglican tradition, holders of these positions are ''ex officio'' members of the parish b ...

) is a

beadle A beadle, sometimes spelled bedel, is an official of a church or synagogue who may usher, keep order, make reports, and assist in religious functions; or a minor official who carries out various civil, educational, or ceremonial duties on the ...

or sexton, a person who assists in the running of

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...

in some way. The role may be undertaken on a voluntary or paid basis. A ''shamash'' (literally 'servant') or ''gabbai'' can also mean an assistant to a rabbi (particularly the secretary or personal assistant to a Hasidic rebbe). In

ma'amad Ma'amad or Mahamad ( he, מעמד) was Council of Elders (or "the board of directors") of the communities of Sephardi Jews ( Spanish-Portuguese Jews) corresponding to ''qahal'' of the Ashkenazi Jews. Ma'amad was described as extremely conservative ...

, the Council of Elders (or "the board of directors") of the communities of Sephardi Jews, the position of ''gabbai'' was that of the

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury o ...

Etymology

The word ''gabbai'' is Hebrew and, in Talmudic times, meant "collector of taxes or charity" or "treasurer". The term ''shamash'' is sometimes used for the ''gabbai'', the caretaker or "man of all work" in a synagogue.

Duties

While the specific set of duties vary from synagogue to synagogue, a gabbai's responsibilities will typically include ensuring that the religious services run smoothly. The ''gabbai'' may be responsible for calling congregants up to the Torah. In some synagogues, the ''gabbai'' stands next to the Torah reader, holding a version of the text with

vowels A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (leng ...

and

trope Trope or tropes may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trope (cinema), a cinematic convention for conveying a concept * Trope (literature), a figure of speech or common literary device * Trope (music), any of a variety of different things ...

markings (which are not present in the actual

Torah scroll A ( he, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: ) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Tora ...

), following along in order to correct the reader if the reader makes an error. In other synagogues, these responsibilities are instead that of a ''sgan'' (). A gabbai might manage some of the financial affairs of the institution, such as collection of

contributions Contribution or Contribute may refer to: * ''Contribution'' (album), by Mica Paris (1990) ** "Contribution" (song), title song from the album *Contribution (law), an agreement between defendants in a suit to apportion liability *Contributions, a ...

and keeping financial records. The administrator of charitable funds might be called the ''gabbai tzedakah''.Saiman, Chaim.
The Long Arm of Halacha: Jewish Law and the Madoff Scandal
. ''Forward''. 23 January 2009. p. 11. A gabbai's responsibilities might also include maintaining a

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' ...

Dress

In some parts of the world, the ''gabbaim'' wear special clothing. In

Anglo-Jewry British Jews (often referred to collectively as British Jewry or Anglo-Jewry) are British citizens who identify as Jewish. The number of people who identified as Jews in the United Kingdom rose by just under 4% between 2001 and 2021. History ...

, for example, ''gabbaim'' in some synagogue movements have traditionally worn

top hats A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally ...

, and where there is a ''shamash'', he may wear

canonicals The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean "according to the canon" the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, "canonical example ...

In popular culture

An example from literature is "Moshe the Beadle", a character in ''

Night Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends o ...

'' by

Elie Wiesel Elie Wiesel (, born Eliezer Wiesel ''Eliezer Vizel''; September 30, 1928 – July 2, 2016) was a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Peace Prize, Nobel laureate, and Holocaust survivor. He authored Elie Wiesel b ...

References

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Etymology

Duties

Dress

In popular culture

References

Further reading