RABBI. – Title belonging to the doctors of Jewish law: *rabh* “master”; *rabbi* “my master.” *Rabbân* was the title given to a very eminent teacher; the title of *rabbi* was originally reserved only for the heads of schools. Among the Sephardim the rabbi is called *habîhan* “sage.” The Syriac translation of the New Testament renders *rabbi* as “archisinagogo,” the person entrusted with the divine service. The rabbi’s task is above all teaching and preaching; he also had authority to decide religious and sometimes civil matters, a role generally reserved for a specific official called *dajân* “judge.” This prerogative ceased when civil authorities assumed all decisive power, even over the Jews.
The rabbis originated within Pharisaism. In the Mishnaic treatise *‘Abbâth*, i, 1, 1, the rabbis from the first period after Christ up to Jôhânân ben Zakkaj are linked through an unbroken tradition back to Moses. The rabbi was not remunerated for his teaching; for this reason he practiced a profession, to which he generally devoted one-third of his day. R. Gamaliel in *‘Abbâth*, 2, 2 explicitly urges those who dedicate themselves to the study of the Law to work. The rabbi of our time is a layman, without hierarchical dignity. Formerly, however, the title of rabbi was conferred with *sêmikhâh*, the laying on of hands, a ceremony of religious character. In 135 A.D. the Romans forbade this ceremony and put R. Jêhûdhâh ben Babba’ to death for violating their order. About a century later, in the time of Judah “the Prince,” who was on good terms with the Romans, the *sêmikhâh* was permitted again, but Judah himself restricted it to Palestine and to scholars who promised not to leave II.
The Jewish Enlightenment movement (*haskalah*), which developed in Germany at the end of the 18th century, initiated especially by M. Mendelssohn, first provoked a crisis and then a transformation in rabbinism. The rabbis gradually reconciled themselves with the new cultural spirit. A great advocate of the necessity of such reconciliation was Abraham Geiger (1810–74). The institutions where rabbis received their training were transformed from Talmudic academies or *jêsîbhôth*, where study was limited to the Talmud, into rabbinical colleges, where the education of young men was broader and more varied. The first such institute opened in Metz in 1824; it was followed by the Italian Rabbinical College in Padua, opened through the initiative of S. D. Luzzatto in 1827; in Bre
In 258–247 B.C., R. expanded and took the name Philadelphia in honor of Ptolemy II. Around 135 it was ruled by the tyrant Zenon, and a tomb with characteristic Nabataean pottery indicates Nabataean presence. In 63 B.C. it became part of the Decapolis and in 106 A.D. belonged to the Roman province of Arabia under Trajan, experiencing considerable development. From the Roman period are fine buildings below and the temple on the acropolis.
In Christian times it became an episcopal see dependent on Bosra, and Cyrion, the bishop, attended the councils of Nicaea and Antioch. Four ancient churches are known: one near the river, where the great mosque stands today, two on the slopes, and one on the acropolis. In 635 it passed to the Arabs, who erected a fine Sasanian-style palace on the acropolis. It soon began to decline, and under the Turkish period only a wretched village remained. Revitalized by Circassian immigration from 1878 onward, it developed further after the First World War and became the seat of the Emirate of Transjordan. Development has not ceased, and in 1948 its population doubled (ca. 100,000) with the settlement there of Palestinian refugees.
Burkitt’s thesis, namely that R. caused the Syriac version of the separate Gospels to be composed to replace the *Diatessaron*, is today effectively refuted.
Ignazio Ortiz de Urbina