Rav

This article is about the Hebrew word. For the Amoraic sage known as Rav, see Abba Arikha. For other uses, see Rav (disambiguation).

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.

Overview

In the Talmud, the title Rav generally precedes the names of Babylonian Amoraim; Rabbi generally precedes the names of ordained scholars in the Land of Israel whether Tannaim or Amoraim.^[3][4]

In the Talmud, Rav or Rab (used alone) is a common name for the amora named Abba Arikha.

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The title Rav HaTzair (or Rav HaTza'ir) refers to an assistant rabbi.^[5][6] Tzair means young, in Hebrew, and the prefix Ha means "the"; therefore, the combination can be used to mean the younger of a pair: Rav HaTzair, in context, can refer to the younger of a pair of rabbis,^[7] or Junior Rav.^[8]

See also

• Rebbe
• Honorifics in Judaism
• list of people called Rabbi