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Rebbetzin ( yi, רביצין) or Rabbanit ( he, רַבָּנִית) is the title used for the wife of a
Jewish Action Magazine: Portraits of Rabbinic Women
{{Women in Judaism Judaism and women Jewish culture Orthodox rabbinic roles and titles
Rebbetzin ( yi, רביצין) or Rabbanit ( he, רַבָּנִית) is the title used for the wife of a rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
—typically among Orthodox
Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to:
Religion
* Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
, Haredi
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
, and Hasidic Jews—or for a female Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
scholar or teacher.
Etymology
The Yiddish word has a trilingual etymology: Hebrew, ''rebbə'' ("master"); the Slavic feminine suffix, ''-itsa''; and the Yiddish feminine suffix, ''-in.'' A male or female rabbi may have a male spouse but, as women and openly gay men were prohibited from the rabbinate for most of Jewish history, there has historically been no specific term for the male spouse of a rabbi. In a 2020 piece, Rob Eshman, the national editor of ''The Forward
''The Forward'' ( yi, פֿאָרווערטס, Forverts), formerly known as ''The Jewish Daily Forward'', is an American news media organization for a Jewish American audience. Founded in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily socialist newspaper, ...
'' and the husband of a female rabbi, wrote: "Nobody knew what to call me" because "there wasn't a word for what I was." Some contemporary male spouses of rabbis have chosen to call themselves "rebbetzers."
Community roles
In many Orthodox communities, rebbetzins have the role of spiritual counselors. In circles such as the Hasidic dynasty of Belz, the girls schools are run by the rebbetzin. The rabbi's wife plays an important community role, especially in small communities. In many ways, she is called on to be as knowledgeable as the rabbi in the realm of woman's observances: In this manner, for something that does not require a ''psak
In Jewish law, a ''Posek'' ( he, פוסק , pl. ''poskim'', ) is a legal scholar who determines the position of ''halakha'', the Jewish religious laws derived from the written and Oral Torah in cases of Jewish law where previous authorities ar ...
'' (ruling), she can be approached when a woman does not feel comfortable approaching the rabbi, or where the rabbi maybe should not be approached. For instance, the rebbetzin may be consulted in personal questions regarding female sexuality.
When a rabbi is a "pulpit rabbi" (versus a teacher or a "lay rabbi"), his rebbetzin may become something of a "first lady" of the community, performing social tasks and ceremonial roles.
With the growth of independent leadership roles among Orthodox women, some women have received the title on their own merit, irrespective of their husbands.
See also
*Women in Judaism
The role of women in Judaism is determined by the Hebrew Bible, the Oral Law (the corpus of rabbinic literature), by custom, and by cultural factors. Although the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic literature mention various female role models, religio ...
* Women rabbis
Women rabbis are individual Jewish women who have studied Jewish Law and received rabbinical ordination. Women rabbis are prominent in Progressive Jewish denominations, however, the subject of women rabbis in Orthodox Judaism is more complex. Al ...
References
External links
Jewish Action Magazine: Portraits of Rabbinic Women
{{Women in Judaism Judaism and women Jewish culture Orthodox rabbinic roles and titles