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Guillotine

A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with a pillory at the bottom of the frame, holding the position of the neck directly below the blade. The blade is then released, swiftly and forcefully decapitating the victim with a single, clean pass; the head falls into a basket or other receptacle below.

The guillotine is best known for its use in France, particularly during the French Revolution, where the revolution's supporters celebrated it as the people's avenger and the revolution's opponents vilified it as the pre-eminent symbol of the violence of the Reign of Terror. While the name "guillotine" dates from this period, similar devices had been in use elsewhere in Europe over several centuries. Use of an oblique blade and the pillory-like restraint device set this type of guillotine apart from others. Display of severed heads had long been one of the most common ways European sovereigns exhibited their power to their subjects.

The design of the guillotine was intended to make capital punishment more reliable and less painful in accordance with new Enlightenment ideas of human rights. Prior to use of the guillotine, France had inflicted manual beheading and a variety of methods of execution, many of which were more gruesome and required a high level of precision and skill to carry out successfully.

After its adoption, the device remained France's standard method of judicial execution until the abolition of capital punishment in 1981. The last person to be executed by a government via guillotine was Hamida Djandoubi on 10 September 1977 in France.

Precursors
The use of beheading machines in Europe long predates such use during the French Revolution in 1792. An early example of the principle is found in the Old French High History of the Holy Grail, dated to about 1210. Although the device is imaginary, its function is clear. The text says:

"Within these three openings are the hallows set for them. And behold what I would do to them if their three heads were therein ... She setteth her hand toward the openings and draweth forth a pin that was fastened into the wall, and a cutting blade of steel droppeth down, of steel sharper than any razor, and closeth up the three openings. "Even thus will I cut off their heads when they shall set them into those three openings thinking to adore the hallows that are beyond.""

The Halifax Gibbet in England was a wooden structure consisting of two wooden uprights, capped by a horizontal beam, of a total height of 4.5 m. The blade was an axe head weighing 3.5 kg (7.7 lb), attached to the bottom of a massive wooden block that slid up and down in grooves in the uprights. This device was mounted on a large square platform 1.25 m high. It is not known when the Halifax Gibbet was first used; the first recorded execution in Halifax dates from 1280, but that execution may have been by sword, axe, or gibbet. The machine remained in use until Oliver Cromwell forbade capital punishment for petty theft.

A Hans Weiditz (1495–1537) woodcut illustration from the 1532 edition of Petrarch's De remediis utriusque fortunae, or "Remedies for Both Good and Bad Fortune" shows a device similar to the Halifax Gibbet in the background being used for an execution.

Holinshed's Chronicles of 1577 included a picture of "The execution of Murcod Ballagh near Merton in Ireland in 1307" showing a similar execution machine, suggesting its early use in Ireland.

The Maiden was constructed in 1564 for the Provost and Magistrates of Edinburgh, Scotland and was in use from April 1565 to 1710. One of those executed was James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, in 1581, and a 1644 publication began circulating the legend that Morton himself commissioned the Maiden after he had seen the Halifax Gibbet. The Maiden was readily dismantled for storage and transport, and it is now on display in the National Museum of Scotland.

Etymology
For a period of time after its invention, the guillotine was called a louisette. However, it was later named after French physician and Freemason Joseph-Ignace Guillotin, who proposed on 10 October 1789 the use of a special device to carry out executions in France in a more humane manner. A death penalty opponent, he was displeased with the breaking wheel and other common, more grisly methods of execution and sought to persuade Louis XVI of France to implement a less painful alternative. While not the device's inventor, Guillotin's name ultimately became an eponym for it. Contrary to popular myth, Guillotin did not die by guillotine but rather by natural causes.

Invention
French surgeon and physiologist Antoine Louis and German engineer Tobias Schmidt built a prototype for the guillotine. According to the memoir of the French executioner Charles-Henri Sanson, Louis XVI suggested the use of a straight, angled blade instead of a curved one.

Introduction in France
On 10 October 1789, physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotin proposed to the National Assembly that capital punishment should always take the form of decapitation "by means of a simple mechanism".

Sensing the growing discontent, Louis XVI banned the use of the breaking wheel. In 1791, as the French Revolution progressed, the National Assembly researched a new method to be used on all condemned people regardless of class, consistent with the idea that the purpose of capital punishment was simply to end life rather than to inflict unnecessary pain.

A committee formed under Antoine Louis, physician to the King and Secretary to the Academy of Surgery. Guillotin was also on the committee. The group was influenced by beheading devices used elsewhere in Europe, such as the Italian Mannaia (or Mannaja, which had been used since Roman times), the Scottish Maiden, and the Halifax Gibbet (3.5 kg). While many of these prior instruments crushed the neck or used blunt force to take off a head, a number of them also used a crescent blade to behead and a hinged two-part yoke to immobilize the victim's neck.

Laquiante, an officer of the Strasbourg criminal court, designed a beheading machine and employed Tobias Schmidt, a German engineer and harpsichord maker, to construct a prototype. Antoine Louis is also credited with the design of the prototype. France's official executioner, Charles-Henri Sanson, claimed in his memoirs that King Louis XVI, an amateur locksmith, recommended that the device employ an oblique blade rather than a crescent one, lest the blade not be able to cut through all necks; the neck of the king, who himself died by guillotine years later, was offered up discreetly as an example. The first execution by guillotine was performed on a highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier on 25 April 1792  in front of what is now Place de l'Hôtel de Ville, the city hall of Paris. All citizens condemned to die were from then on executed there, until the scaffold was moved on 21 August to the Place du Carrousel.

The machine was judged successful because it was considered a humane form of execution in contrast with more cruel methods used in the pre-revolutionary Ancien Régime. In France, before the invention of the guillotine, members of the nobility were beheaded with a sword or an axe, which often took two or more blows to kill the condemned. The condemned or their families would sometimes pay the executioner to ensure that the blade was sharp in order to achieve a quick and relatively painless death. Commoners were usually hanged, which could take many minutes.

In the early phase of the French Revolution, prior to the guillotine's adoption, the slogan À la lanterne (in English: To the lamp post!) symbolized popular justice in revolutionary France. The revolutionary radicals hanged officials and aristocrats from street lanterns and also employed more gruesome methods of execution, such as the wheel or burning at the stake.

Having only one method of civil execution for all regardless of class was also seen as an expression of equality among citizens. The guillotine was then the only civil legal execution method in France until abolition of the death penalty in 1981, apart from certain crimes against the security of the state, or for the death sentences passed by military courts, which entailed execution by firing squad.

Reign of Terror
Louis Collenot d'Angremont was a royalist famed for having been the first guillotined for his political ideas, on 21 August 1792. During the Reign of Terror between June 1793 and July 1794 about 17,000 people were guillotined, including former King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette who were executed at the guillotine in 1793. Towards the end of the Terror in 1794, revolutionary leaders such as Georges Danton, Saint-Just and Maximilien Robespierre were sent to the guillotine. Most of the time, executions in Paris were carried out in the Place de la Revolution (former Place Louis XV and current Place de la Concorde); the guillotine stood in the corner near the Hôtel Crillon where the City of Brest Statue can be found today. The machine was moved several times, to the Place de la Nation and the Place de la Bastille, but returned, particularly for the execution of the King and for Robespierre.

For a time, executions by guillotine were a popular form of entertainment that attracted great crowds of spectators, with vendors selling programs listing the names of the condemned. But more than being popular entertainment alone during the Terror, the guillotine symbolized revolutionary ideals: equality in death equivalent to equality before the law; open and demonstrable revolutionary justice; and the destruction of privilege under the Ancien Régime, which used separate forms of execution for nobility and commoners. The Parisian sans-culottes, then the popular public face of lower-class patriotic radicalism, thus considered the guillotine a positive force for revolutionary progress.

Retirement
After the French Revolution, executions resumed in the city centre. On 4 February 1832, the guillotine was moved behind the Church of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie, before being moved again, to the Grande Roquette prison, on 29 November 1851.

In the late 1840s, the Tussaud brothers Joseph and Francis, gathering relics for Madame Tussauds wax museum, visited the aged Henry-Clément Sanson, grandson of the executioner Charles-Henri Sanson, from whom they obtained parts, the knife and lunette, of one of the original guillotines used during the Reign of Terror. The executioner had "pawned his guillotine, and got into woeful trouble for alleged trafficking in municipal property".

On 6 August 1909, the guillotine was used at the junction of the Boulevard Arago and the Rue de la Santé, behind the La Santé Prison.

The last public guillotining in France was of Eugen Weidmann, who was convicted of six murders. He was beheaded on 17 June 1939 outside the prison Saint-Pierre, rue Andre Mignot 5 at Versailles, which is now the Tribunal Judiciaire de Versailles. Numerous issues with the proceedings arose: inappropriate behaviour by spectators, incorrect assembly of the apparatus, and secret cameras filming and photographing the execution from several storeys above. In response, the French government ordered that future executions be conducted in the prison courtyard in private.

Marie-Louise Giraud (17 November 1903 – 30 July 1943) was one of the last women to be executed in France. Giraud was convicted in Vichy France and was guillotined for having performed 27 abortions in the Cherbourg area on 30 July 1943. Her story was dramatized in the 1988 film Story of Women directed by Claude Chabrol.

The guillotine remained the official method of execution in France until the death penalty was abolished in 1981. The final three guillotinings in France before its abolition were those of child-murderers Christian Ranucci (on 28 July 1976) in Marseille, Jérôme Carrein (on 23 June 1977) in Douai and torturer-murderer Hamida Djandoubi (on 10 September 1977) in Marseille. Djandoubi's death was the last time that the guillotine was used for an execution by any government.

Germany
In Germany, the guillotine is known as Fallbeil ("falling axe") or Köpfmaschine ("beheading machine") and was used in various German states from the 19th century onwards, becoming the preferred method of execution in Napoleonic times in many parts of the country. The guillotine and the firing squad were the legal methods of execution during the era of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the Weimar Republic (1919–1933).

The original German guillotines resembled the French Berger 1872 model, but they eventually evolved into sturdier and more effective machines. Built primarily of metal instead of wood, these new guillotines had heavier blades than their French predecessors and thus could use shorter uprights as well. Officials could also conduct multiple executions faster, thanks to a more effective blade recovery system and the eventual removal of the tilting board (bascule). Those deemed likely to struggle were backed slowly into the device from behind a curtain to prevent them from seeing it prior to the execution. A metal screen covered the blade as well in order to conceal it from the sight of the condemned.

Nazi Germany used the guillotine between 1933 and 1945 to execute 16,500 prisoners, 10,000 of them in 1944 and 1945 alone. Notable political victims executed by the guillotine under the Nazi government included Marinus van der Lubbe, a Dutch communist blamed for the Reichstag fire and executed by guillotine in January 1934. The Nazi government also guillotined Sophie Scholl, who was convicted of high treason after distributing anti-Nazi pamphlets at the University of Munich with her brother Hans, and other members of the German student resistance group, the White Rose.

The guillotine was last used in West Germany in 1949 in the execution of Richard Schuh and was last used in East Germany in 1966 in the execution of Horst Fischer. The Stasi used the guillotine in East Germany between 1950 and 1966 for secret executions.

Elsewhere
A number of countries, primarily in Europe, continued to employ this method of execution into the 19th and 20th centuries, but they ceased to use it before France did in 1977.

In Antwerp, Belgium, the last person to be beheaded was Francis Kol. Convicted of robbery and murder, he received his punishment on 8 May 1856. During the period from 19 March 1798 to 30 March 1856, there were 19 beheadings in Antwerp.

In Utrecht, the Netherlands, the first person to be beheaded was Anthony van Benthem, a criminal confined in a mental institution. He killed a cellmate after being called a sodomite. He was executed at Paardenveld on 27 July 1811. Back then, the Netherlands was part of the French Empire, Utrecht being in the Zuyderzée department.

In Switzerland, it was used for the last time by the canton of Obwalden in the execution of murderer Hans Vollenweider in 1940.

In Greece, the guillotine (along with the firing squad) was introduced as a method of execution in 1834; it was last used in 1913.

In Sweden, beheading became the mandatory method of execution in 1866. The guillotine replaced manual beheading in 1903, and it was used only once, in the execution of murderer Alfred Ander in 1910 at Långholmen Prison, Stockholm. Ander was also the last person to be executed in Sweden before capital punishment was abolished there in 1921.

In South Vietnam, after the Diệm regime enacted the 10/59 Decree in 1959, mobile special military courts were dispatched to the countryside in order to intimidate the rural population; they used guillotines, which had belonged to the former French colonial power, in order to carry out death sentences on the spot. One such guillotine is still on show at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City.

In the Western Hemisphere, the guillotine saw only limited use. The only recorded guillotine execution in North America north of the Caribbean took place on the French island of St. Pierre in 1889, of Joseph Néel, with a guillotine brought in from Martinique.

In the Caribbean, it was used rarely in Guadeloupe and Martinique; its last use in the region was at Fort-de-France in 1965. In South America, the guillotine was only used in French Guiana, where about 150 people were beheaded between 1850 and 1945: most of them were convicts exiled from France and incarcerated within the "bagne", or penal colonies. Within the Southern Hemisphere, it worked in New Caledonia (which had a bagne too until the end of the 19th century) and at least twice in Tahiti.

In the United States in 1996, Georgia State Representative Doug Teper unsuccessfully sponsored a bill to replace that state's electric chair with the guillotine.

In recent years, a limited number of individuals have killed themselves using self-constructed guillotines.

Controversy
Ever since the guillotine's first use, there has been debate as to whether or not the guillotine provided as swift and painless a death as Guillotin had hoped. With previous methods of execution that were intended to be painful, few expressed concern about the level of suffering that they inflicted. However, because the guillotine was invented specifically to be more humane, the issue of whether or not the condemned experiences pain has been thoroughly examined and remains a controversial topic. Certain eyewitness accounts of guillotine executions suggest anecdotally that awareness may persist momentarily after decapitation, although there is no scientific consensus on the matter.

Living heads
The question of consciousness or awareness following decapitation remained a topic of discussion during the guillotine's use.

The following report was written by Dr. Beaurieux, who observed the head of executed prisoner Henri Languille, on 28 June 1905:

"Here, then, is what I was able to note immediately after the decapitation: the eyelids and lips of the guillotined man worked in irregularly rhythmic contractions for about five or six seconds. This phenomenon has been remarked by all those finding themselves in the same conditions as myself for observing what happens after the severing of the neck ...

I waited for several seconds. The spasmodic movements ceased. [...] It was then that I called in a strong, sharp voice: "Languille!" I saw the eyelids slowly lift up, without any spasmodic contractions – I insist advisedly on this peculiarity – but with an even movement, quite distinct and normal, such as happens in everyday life, with people awakened or torn from their thoughts.

Next Languille's eyes very definitely fixed themselves on mine and the pupils focused themselves. I was not, then, dealing with the sort of vague dull look without any expression, that can be observed any day in dying people to whom one speaks: I was dealing with undeniably living eyes which were looking at me. After several seconds, the eyelids closed again [...].

It was at that point that I called out again and, once more, without any spasm, slowly, the eyelids lifted and undeniably living eyes fixed themselves on mine with perhaps even more penetration than the first time. Then there was a further closing of the eyelids, but now less complete. I attempted the effect of a third call; there was no further movement – and the eyes took on the glazed look which they have in the dead."

Names for the guillotine
During the span of its usage, the French guillotine has gone by many names, some of which include:

 * La Monte-à-regret (The Regretful Climb)
 * Le Rasoir National (The National Razor)
 * Le Vasistas or La Lucarne (The Fanlight)
 * La Veuve (The Widow)
 * Le Moulin à Silence (The Silence Mill)
 * Louisette or Louison (from the name of prototype designer Antoine Louis)
 * Madame La Guillotine
 * Mirabelle (from the name of Mirabeau)
 * La Bécane (The Machine)
 * Le Massicot (The Paper Trimmer)
 * La Cravate à Capet (Capet's Necktie, Capet being Louis XVI)
 * La Raccourcisseuse Patriotique (The Patriotic Shortener)
 * La demi-lune (The Half-Moon)
 * Les Bois de Justice (Timbers of Justice)
 * La Bascule à Charlot (Charlot's Rocking-chair)
 * Le Prix Goncourt des Assassins (The Goncourt Prize for Murderers)

title: Guillotine


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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 the rabbi developed in the Pharisaic (167 BCE – 73 CE) and Talmudic (70–640 CE) eras, when learned teachers assembled to codify Judaism's written and oral laws. The title "rabbi" was first used in the first century CE. In more recent centuries, the duties of a rabbi became increasingly influenced by the duties of the Protestant Christian minister, hence the title "pulpit rabbis", and in 19th-century Germany and the United States rabbinic activities including sermons, pastoral counseling, and representing the community to the outside, all increased in importance.

Within the various Jewish denominations, there are different requirements for rabbinic ordination, and differences in opinion regarding who is recognized as a rabbi. For example, only a minority of Orthodox Jewish communities accept the ordination of women rabbis. Non-Orthodox movements have chosen to do so for what they view as halakhic reasons (Conservative Judaism) as well as ethical reasons (Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism).

Etymology and pronunciation
The word comes from the Mishnaic Hebrew construct rǝbbī, meaning "Master [Name]"; the standard Hebrew noun is  rav "master". rav is also used as a title for rabbis, as are rabbeinu ("our master") and ha-rav ("the master"). See also Rav and Rebbe.

The Hebrew root in turn derives from the Semitic root (R-B-B), which in Biblical Aramaic means "great" in many senses, including "revered", but appears primarily as a prefix in construct forms. Although the usage rabim "many" (as 1 Kings 18:25, ) "the majority, the multitude" occurs for the assembly of the community in the Dead Sea Scrolls, there is no evidence to support an association of this use with the later title "rabbi". The root is cognate to Arabic ربّ rabb, meaning "lord" (generally used when talking about God, but also about temporal lords), and to the Syriac word ܪܒܝ rabi.

Some communities, especially Sephardic and Yemenite Jews, historically pronounced the title rībbī; this pronunciation competed with  rǝbbī and רַבִּי rabbī in Ashkenaz until the modern period.

Historical overview
Rabbi is not an occupation found in the Hebrew Bible, and ancient generations did not employ related titles such as Rabban, Rabbi, or Rav to describe either the Babylonian sages or the sages in Israel. For example, Hillel I and Shammai (the religious leaders of the early first century) had no rabbinic title prefixed to their names. The titles "Rabban" and "Rabbi" are first mentioned in Jewish literature in the Mishnah. Rabban was first used for Rabban Gamaliel the elder, Rabban Simeon his son, and Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, all of whom were patriarchs or presidents of the Sanhedrin in the first century. Early recipients of the title rabbi include Rabbi Zadok and Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob, beginning in the time of the disciples of Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai. The title "Rabbi" occurs (in Greek transliteration ῥαββί rabbi) in the books of Matthew, Mark, and John in the New Testament, where it is used in reference to "Scribes and Pharisees" as well as to Jesus. According to some, the title "rabbi" or "rabban" was first used after 70 CE to refer to Yochanan ben Zakkai and his students, and references in rabbinic texts and the New Testament to rabbis earlier in the 1st century are anachronisms or retroactive honorifics. Other scholars believe that the term "rabbi" was a well-known informal title by the beginning of the first century CE, and thus that the Jewish and Christian references to rabbis reflect the titles in fact used in this period.

The governments of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were based on a system that included the Jewish kings, the Jewish prophets, the legal authority of the high court of Jerusalem, the Great Sanhedrin, and the ritual authority of the priesthood. Members of the Sanhedrin had to receive their ordination (semicha) in an uninterrupted line of transmission from Moses, yet rather than being referred to as rabbis they were called priests or scribes, like Ezra, who is called in the Bible "Ezra, the priest, the scribe, a scribe of the words of God's commandments and of His statutes unto Israel." "Rabbi" as a title does not appear in the Hebrew Bible, though later rabbinic sources occasionally use it as a title for wise Biblical figures.

With the destruction of the two Temples in Jerusalem, the end of the Jewish monarchy, and the decline of the dual institutions of prophets and the priesthood, the focus of scholarly and spiritual leadership within the Jewish people shifted to the sages of the Men of the Great Assembly (Anshe Knesset HaGedolah). This assembly was composed of the earliest group of "rabbis" in the more modern sense of the word, in large part because they began the formulation and explication of what became known as Judaism's "Oral Law" (Torah SheBe'al Peh). This was eventually encoded and codified within the Mishnah and Talmud and subsequent rabbinical scholarship, leading to what is known as Rabbinic Judaism.

Talmudic period
The traditional explanation is that from the 1st to 5th centuries, the title "Rabbi" was given to those sages of the Land of Israel who received formal ordination (semicha), while the lesser title "Rav" was given to sages who taught in the Babylonian academies, as ordination could not be performed outside the Land of Israel. Sherira Gaon summarized the relationship between these titles as follows: "Rabbi is greater than Rav, Rabban is greater than Rabbi, one's name is greater than Rabban". However, some modern scholars argue that "Rabbi" and "Rav" are the same title, pronounced differently due to variations in dialect.

After the suppression of the Patriarchate and Sanhedrin by Theodosius II in 425, there was no more formal ordination in the strict sense. A recognised scholar could be called Rav or Hacham, like the Babylonian sages. The transmission of learning from master to disciple remained of tremendous importance, but there was no formal rabbinic qualification as such.

Middle Ages
In the early Middle Ages "rabbi" was not a formal title, but was used as a term of respect for Jews of great scholarship and reputation. After the emergence of Karaism, Jews who still followed the Talmudic traditions became known as "rabbanites". Initially communities might have a religious judge appointed by the central geonate, often possessing a certification known as pitka dedayanuta or bearing the title chaver (short for chaver besanhedrin hagedolah, used in Israel) or aluf (used in Babylonia). By the 11th century, as the geonate weakened it was common for Jewish communities to elect a local spiritual authority. In the 11th–12th century, some local rabbinic authorities in Spain received formal certification known as ketav masmich or ketav minui in preparation for their leadership role. Maimonides ruled that every congregation is obliged to appoint a preacher and scholar to admonish the community and teach Torah, and the social institution he describes is the germ of the modern congregational rabbinate.

Until the Black Death, Ashkenazi communities typically made religious decisions by consensus of scholars on a council, rather than the decision of a single authority. In the 14th century, the concept arose of a single person who served as religious authority for particular area (the mara de'atra). Formal ordination is first recorded among Ashkenazim with Meir ben Baruch Halevi (late 14th century), who issued the formal title Moreinu (our teacher) to scholars, though it likely existed somewhat earlier. By the 15th century, this formal ordination (known as semicha) became necessary in order to be recognized as a rabbi. Initially some Sephardic communities objected to such formal ordination, but over time the system became adopted by them too.

18th–19th centuries
A dramatic change in rabbinic functions occurred with Jewish emancipation. Tasks that were once the primary focus for rabbis, such as settling disputes by presiding over a Jewish court, became less prominent, while other tasks that were secondary, like delivering sermons, increased in importance.

In 19th-century Germany and the United States, the duties of the rabbi in some respects became increasingly similar to the duties of other clergy, like the Protestant Christian minister, and the title "pulpit rabbis" appeared to describe this phenomenon. Sermons, pastoral counseling, representing the community to the outside, all increased in importance. Non-Orthodox rabbis, on a day-to-day business basis, now spend more time on these functions than they do teaching or answering questions on Jewish law and philosophy. Within the Modern Orthodox community, many rabbis still mainly deal with teaching and questions of Jewish law, but many are increasingly dealing with these same pastoral functions.

Traditionally, rabbis have never been an intermediary between God and humans. This idea was traditionally considered outside the bounds of Jewish theology. Unlike spiritual leaders in many other faiths, they are not considered to be imbued with special powers or abilities.

Functions
Rabbis serve the Jewish community. Hence their functions vary as the needs of the Jewish community vary over time and from place to place.

 * Study and teaching: Rabbis have always been the main links in the chain of transmission (masorah) whereby knowledge of the Torah has been passed down through the generations. Learning from their teachers, adding new insights of their own (hidushim), and teaching the public have always been the primary functions of the rabbinate. Studying the Torah is a rabbi's lifelong undertaking that does not end with receiving ordination. A rabbi is expected to set aside time daily for study. A rabbi that does not constantly replenish his or her store of Torah learning will lack the knowledge, inspiration and mastery of Jewish law and traditions required to perform all other rabbinic functions.
 * Once acquired, Torah knowledge must be passed on, because it is the heritage of all Israel. Teaching by rabbis occurs in many venues—the schoolroom of course, elementary (heder), intermediate (yeshivah) and advanced (kollel), but also, especially in antiquity, in the vineyard, the marketplace and the disciple circle. In many synagogues, the rabbi will give a short daily class to those who attend morning or evening services. The sermon is another form of public education, often integrating Biblical passages with a contemporary ethical message, and no Jewish meal or celebration is complete without the rabbi's "d'var Torah"—a short explanation of Biblical verses related to the event.
 * Apart from face to face instruction, rabbis who are inclined to authorship have composed an extensive rabbinic literature, dealing with all aspects of the Jewish tradition—Bible commentaries, codes of law, responsa, mystical and ethical tracts, and collections of sermons are examples of common genres of rabbinic literature.

 * Judging: Prior to emancipation, rulers delegated discipline and dispute settlement within the Jewish community (kahal) to the Jewish community itself. If a dispute, domestic or commercial, a tort or a petty crime, involved only Jewish residents, then it could be settled in the town's Jewish court according to Jewish law. The town rabbi, with his extensive knowledge of Torah law (halakhah), was expected to preside as Head of the Court (av beth din), although lay assessors might join him in judgment. The judgments were enforced with fines and various degrees of communal excommunication when necessary.
 * After emancipation, Jews, as citizens of their countries, turned to civil courts for dispute resolution. Today rabbinical courts remain active under the auspices of each Jewish denomination for religious matters, such as conversion and divorce, and even, on a voluntary basis, for civil matters when the parties voluntarily elect to have the rabbinical judges serve as their arbitrators. In Israel there are rabbinical courts for matters of personal status.

 * Legislating: During the centuries of Jewish self-government, some problems were considered regional or universal and could not be solved by a single rabbi acting alone. At these times rabbinical synods were convened for concerted action, calling together the prominent rabbis of the region to debate solutions and enact binding regulations (takkanot) for their communities. The regulations involved matters as diverse as dowries and matrimonial law, relations with gentiles, utilizing civil courts, education of orphans, anti-counterfeiting measures, and the hiring of schoolteachers. The most famous of these ordinances is ascribed to Rabbeinu Gershom, and was probably enacted in a rabbinic synod he convened c. 1000 CE. The ordinance, still in effect today, prohibits polygamy among Jews in the West.
 * In the modern era rabbis have enacted takkanot in the State of Israel, and the major Jewish movements, such as Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist, enact takkanot for their members. Today most congregational rabbis are members of a national rabbinic organization related to their movement and also an association of local rabbis in their city. When these bodies debate local and national questions, they function in a manner that is similar to the rabbinic synods of the past.

 * Religious supervision: The Jewish community requires a number of religious institutions for daily life, and it falls to rabbis, with their knowledge of Jewish law, to supervise them to ensure they operate in accordance with Jewish law. Examples would be Jewish slaughter (shekhita), Jewish dietary laws in shops and institutions (kashrut), the ritual bath (mikveh), the elementary school (heder), the Sabbath boundaries (eruvin), and the burial society (hevra kadisha). Traditionally this function fell to the town's rabbi. In the modern era, rabbis who specialize in this type of supervision will find full-time employment as a Mashgiach (supervisor of ritual law), and some of these functions are now performed by national organizations, such as the Orthodox Union which offers kosher certification.
 * Pastoral counseling: In addition to answering questions about Jewish law and rituals, a congregational rabbi may often be consulted for advice on personal matters. Much of a modern rabbi's time is devoted to pastoral work, including visiting the sick and officiating at life cycle occasions. In the pre-modern era, rabbis had no special training in counseling, relying instead on their personal qualities of empathy and caring. These factors continue to inform rabbinic advising in the modern era. However modern rabbinical seminaries have instituted courses in psychology and pastoral counseling as part of the required rabbinic curriculum and they offer internships in counseling and social services for their rabbinical students. Among Hasidic Jews, turning to the rebbe for advice on personal matters is common.
 * Leading prayer services: Traditionally rabbis did not lead prayer services in the modern sense. There is no requirement that a rabbi be present for public prayer. The Jewish liturgy is fixed and printed in prayer books (siddurim), the vocal portions are chanted by a cantor (hazan) and the Torah portion is read by a trained reader (ba'al koreh). If the rabbi was present, he or she would be seated in front near the Ark, and as a matter of respect the pace at which the rabbi recited his or her prayers may set the pace of the service. If halakhic questions arose about the prayer service, the rabbi would answer them.
 * In modern synagogues, the rabbi takes a more active role in leading prayer services. In some synagogues, it is permitted for the rabbi to select passages from the prayer book for public reading, to omit some passages for brevity and to add special prayers to the service. The rabbi may lead the congregation in responsive reading, announce page numbers and comment on the liturgy from time to time. At Sabbath and holiday services, the congregational rabbi may deliver a sermon either right before or right after the Torah is read.

 * Celebrating life's events: Jewish law does not require the presence of a rabbi at a marriage, bar or bat mitzvah, circumcision, funeral, house of mourning, or unveiling of a monument at a cemetery. At the same time, Jewish law has prescribed requirements for each of these events and rituals. It therefore became customary for rabbis to be present and to lead the community in celebration and in mourning. In the modern era, it is virtually obligatory to have the rabbi's participation at these events, and ministering to the congregation in these settings has become a major aspect of the modern rabbinate.
 * Jewish divorce, which requires a rabbinical court (beth din), will always have rabbis in attendance.

 * Charitable works: The synagogue has been a place where charity is collected every weekday after services and then distributed to the needy before Sabbaths and holidays. However, most synagogues now suggest that congregants support the synagogue via an annual dues payment, usually collected on a monthly basis. It was not the rabbi who collected these sums; that task was assigned to the sexton, wardens of charity and charitable associations. But it was the rabbi's task to teach that charity (tzedakah) is a core Jewish value. The rabbi did this by preaching, teaching and by example—hosting poor out of town yeshiva students at the home table and offering Jewish travelers a kosher meal. Maimonides formulated a ladder consisting of eight degrees of charity, starting with reluctant giving and ending with teaching someone a trade. Rabbi Israel Salanter (1809–1883) was once asked, "How do you provide for your spiritual needs?" He answered, "By providing for someone else's physical needs."
 * Today Jewish federations and foundations collect and distribute most charity within the Jewish community. However the rabbi retains the task of teaching the value of charity and often participates personally in appeals for the synagogue and for national and international causes.

 * Role-modeling: The rabbi serves as a role model for the congregation by his or her conduct and deportment. Congregation members are keen observers of their rabbi's personality traits, family life, professional conduct, leisure activities and in general the way he or she treats others. Rabbis are aware of this and in the best case deliberately model their conduct so that it represents Jewish values to the community and to outsiders.
 * This aspect of the rabbinate, setting an example for the public, has a direct application in Jewish law. The way the greatest rabbis and Torah scholars conducted themselves can become a precedent in Jewish law, known as ma'aseh. For example, based on reports of what rabbis did in the Talmud, Maimonides ruled that one engaged in public affairs should not break off his duties to recite certain prayers.

 * Outreach, also known as kiruv (bringing close): Some rabbis program and guide activities designed to reach Jews who are unaffiliated with Judaism or lapsed in their observances. These include "Beginners' Services" where the Jewish liturgy is shortened and explained, and Shabbatons, where unaffiliated Jews are hosted by an observant family during Sabbath to experience the day in a religious setting and to learn about its rituals and customs. Chabad outreach sends many rabbis and their wives to be posted in Chabad Houses worldwide for the express purpose of reaching unaffiliated Jews.
 * Conversions: Most rabbis will from time to time encounter someone who is not Jewish seeking information about Judaism or wishing to explore conversion to Judaism. This may happen when one member of a couple wishing to marry is seeking conversion or on other occasions when intermarriage is not involved. Based on the rabbi's training and assessment of the person's motivations and goals, the rabbi's approach may range from discouragement of the potential convert to mentoring and directing to a conversion class, in accordance with the policy on conversion of the rabbi's movement. One or three rabbis will serve on the beth din that performs a conversion. There are no rabbis serving as "Jewish missionaries" per se; there is no parallel in Judaism to the proselytizing of other faiths.
 * Match-making: In periods when match-making was common, rabbis participated. Rabbis were well-acquainted with their community members and in particular with the young unmarried men attending their yeshivas. Parents did not hesitate to consult the rabbi for suitable matches. Today in Orthodox circles where socializing among the sexes is not common, this practice continues, and in all branches of Judaism, a rabbi who can help in this arena will not hesitate to do so.
 * Synagogue administration: The modern synagogue is a non-profit religious corporation run by a Board of Directors elected by the members. However, on a day-to-day basis, board members are not present. In most synagogues, it is the rabbi's task to administer the synagogue, supervise personnel, manage the physical plant, review (if not write) the newsletter, and interact with the brotherhood, the sisterhood and the youth organizations. Very large synagogues may employ a separate administrator or assistant rabbi to perform some or all of these functions.
 * Chaplaincy: USAF Jewish Chaplain Insignia.jpg insignia, U.S. Air Force]] Rabbis go into the field wherever members of the Jewish community may be found. This is most noticeable in the military services and on university campuses where some rabbis serve as Jewish chaplains on a full-time basis. All branches of the U. S. military have Jewish chaplains in their ranks and rabbis serve in the Israeli Defense Forces. The Hillel Foundation provides rabbis and Jewish services on 550 campuses while Chabad operates Jewish centers with a rabbi near 150 college campuses. Local rabbis perform other chaplaincy functions on a part-time basis in hospitals, senior homes and prisons. Worthy of mention are the rabbis who accompanied Jews to concentration camps during the Nazi era; in dire circumstances they continued to provide rabbinic services, such as ritual observance, advice and counseling, to the victims of Nazi persecution, whenever it was possible to do so.
 * Public affairs: As leaders of the Jewish community, many rabbis devote a portion of their time to activities in the public arena, especially where Jewish interests are at stake. They dialogue with public officials and community groups, interact with school boards, advocate for and against legislation, engage in public debates, write newspaper columns, appear in the media and march in parades and demonstrations with others to show support for causes. The extent and tenor of these activities is dictated by the rabbi's own conscience and social and political leanings as informed by Jewish values.
 * Defending the faith: Rabbis are often called upon to defend the Jewish faith. During the Middle Ages, the Church arranged a series of public disputations between rabbis and priests that were intended to "disprove" the Jewish faith and condemn its religious texts, including the Talmud. The rabbis acquitted themselves well in debate with their superior understanding of Jewish texts and mass conversions to Christianity did not take place. However following these disputations local rulers at the Church's behest consigned cartloads of precious Hebrew manuscripts to the flames. Today rabbis are involved in countering the activities of missionaries aimed at converting Jews to other religions, explaining for example that one cannot be of the Jewish faith while believing in either the Christian God or the Christian messiah.
 * Interfaith activities: Some rabbis engage in interfaith dialogues with clergy of other faiths. They may host student groups from the religious schools of other faiths and participate in interfaith services. They will view these activities as a means of deepening understanding and reducing misconceptions in a diverse society. Other rabbis, especially those affiliated with Orthodox Judaism, will generally not participate in interfaith dialogues about theology. They will however engage in discussions with the clergy of other faiths about matters of mutual social concern.
 * Non-practicing rabbis: There is a segment of the rabbinate that does not engage in rabbinic functions on a daily basis, except perhaps to study. Because rabbinic ordination (Semikhah) has the features of a post-graduate academic degree, some study to receive ordination but then follow a different career in secular business, education or the professions. These rabbis may be asked from time to time to perform a rabbinic function on an ad hoc and voluntary basis, e.g. to perform a marriage ceremony or answer a religious question. At other times, they act as regular members of the Jewish community. No negative attitudes attach to rabbis who do not practice the profession. They are likely admired in their communities for their decision to spend years engaged in advanced Torah study for its own sake.

Compensation
In antiquity those who performed rabbinic functions, such as judging a case or teaching Torah to students, did not receive compensation for their services. Being a rabbi was not a full-time profession and those who served had other occupations to support themselves and their families, such as woodchopper, sandal-maker, carpenter, water-carrier, farmer and tanner. A respected scholar, Rabbi Zadok (1st cent. CE), had said "never to use the Torah as a spade for digging," and this was understood to mean never to use one's Torah knowledge for an inappropriate purpose, such as earning a fee. Still, as honored members of the community, Torah sages were allowed a series of privileges and exemptions that alleviated their financial burdens somewhat. These included such things as tax exemption from communal levies, marketplace priority (first in, first out regarding their trade), receiving personal services from their students (shimush talmedei hakhamim), silent business partnerships with wealthy merchants, and a substitute fee to replace their lost earnings when they had to leave work to perform a rabbinic function (sekhar battalah).

During the period of the Geonim (c. 650–1050 CE), opinions on compensation shifted. It was deemed inappropriate for the leaders of the Jewish community to appear in the marketplace as laborers or vendors of merchandise, and leading a Jewish community was becoming a full-time occupation. Under these conditions, the Geonim collected taxes and donations at home and abroad to fund their schools (yeshivot) and paid salaries to teachers, officials and judges of the Jewish community, whom they appointed. Maimonides (1135–1204), who supported himself as a physician, reasserted the traditional view of offering rabbinic service to the Jewish community without compensation. It remains the ideal. But circumstances had changed. Jewish communities required full-time rabbis, and the rabbis themselves preferred to spend their days studying and teaching Torah rather than working at a secular trade.

By the fifteenth century it was the norm for Jewish communities to compensate their rabbis, although the rabbi's contract might well refer to a "suspension fee" (sekhar battalah) rather than a salary, as if he were relinquishing a salary from secular employment. The size of salaries varied, depending on the size of the community served, with rabbis in large cities being well-compensated while rabbis in small towns might receive a small stipend. Rabbis were able to supplement their rabbinic incomes by engaging in associated functions and accepting fees for them, like serving as the community's scribe, notary and archivist, teaching in the elementary school or yeshivah, publishing books, arbitrating civil litigations, or even serving as a matchmaker.

With the formation of rabbinical seminaries starting in the nineteenth century, the rabbinate experienced a degree of professionalization that is still underway. At the present time, an ordained graduate of a rabbinical seminary that is affiliated with one of the modern branches of Judaism, Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, or modern Orthodox, will find employment—whether as a congregational rabbi, teacher, chaplain, Hillel director, camp director, social worker or administrator—through the placement office of his or her seminary. Like any modern professional, he or she will negotiate the terms of employment with potential employers and sign a contract specifying duties, duration of service, salary, benefits, pension and the like. A rabbi's salary and benefits today tend to be similar to those of other modern professionals, such as lawyers and accountants, with similar levels of post-graduate education. It is also possible to engage in the rabbinate part-time, e.g. at a synagogue with a small membership; the rabbi's salary will be proportionate to the services rendered and he or she will likely have additional employment outside the synagogue.

Authority
The practical basis for rabbinic authority involves the acceptance of the rabbinic individual and their scholarly credentials. In practical terms, Jewish communities and individuals commonly proffer allegiance to the authority of the rabbi they have chosen. Such a rabbinic leader is sometimes called the "Master of the Locale" (mara d'atra). Jewish individuals may acknowledge the authority of others but will defer legal decisions to the mara d'atra.

The rabbi derives authority from achievements within a meritocratic system. Rabbis' authority is neither nominal nor spiritual—it is based on credentials. Typically the rabbi receives an institutional stamp of approval. It is this authority that allows them to engage in the halakhic process and make legal prescriptions.

The same pattern is true within broader communities, ranging from Hasidic communities to rabbinical or congregational organizations: there will be a formal or de facto structure of rabbinic authority that is responsible for the members of the community. However, Hasidic communities do not have a mere rabbi: they have a Rebbe, who plays a similar role but is thought to have a special connection to God. The Rebbes' authority, then, is based on a spiritual connection to God and so they are venerated in a different way from rabbis.

Honor
According to the Talmud, it is a commandment (mitzvah) to honor a rabbi and a Torah scholar, along with the elderly, as it is written in Leviticus 19:32, "Rise up before the elderly, and honor the aged." One should stand in their presence and address them with respect. Kohanim (priests) are required to honor rabbis and Torah scholars like the general public. However, if one is more learned than the rabbi or the scholar there is no need to stand. The spouse of a Torah scholar must also be shown deference. It is also a commandment for teachers and rabbis to honor their students. Rabbis and Torah scholars, in order to ensure discipline within the Jewish community, have the authority to place individuals who insult them under a ban of excommunication.

Classical ordination
The first recorded examples of ordination are Moses transmitting his authority to Joshua and the 70 elders. Similarly, Elijah transmitted his authority to Elisha.

According to Pirkei Avot, ordination was transmitted without interruption from Moses to Joshua, to the elders, to the prophets, to the men of the Great Assembly, to the Zugot, to the Tannaim. The chain of semikhah was probably lost in the 4th or 5th century, though possibly as late as the 12th century.

According to Maimonides (12th century), if it were possible to gather the greatest sages of the generation, a reconstituted court could confer classic semikhah or ordination. Since then, a number of modern attempts to revive the Sanhedrin have been made. So far, no such attempt has been accepted as valid among the consensus of rabbis, or persisted for longer than about a century.

Contemporary ordination
Since the end of classical ordination, other forms of ordination have developed which use much of the same terminology, but have a lesser significance in Jewish law.

Nowadays, a rabbinical student is awarded semikhah (rabbinic ordination) after the completion of a learning program in a yeshiva or modern rabbinical seminary or under the guidance of an individual rabbi. The exact course of study varies by denomination, but most are in the range of 3–6 years. The programs all include study of Talmud, the codes of Jewish law and responsa to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the branch of Judaism. In addition to rabbinical literature, modern seminaries offer courses in pastoral subjects such as counseling, education, comparative religion and delivering sermons. Most rabbinical students will complete their studies in their mid-20s. There is no hierarchy and no central authority in Judaism that either supervises rabbinic education or records ordinations; each branch of Judaism regulates the ordination of the rabbis affiliated with it.

The most common formula used on a certificate of semikhah is Yore yore ("He may teach, he may teach", sometimes rendered as a question and answer, "May he teach? He may teach."). Most Rabbis hold this qualification; they are sometimes called a moreh hora'ah ("a teacher of rulings"). A more advanced form of semikhah is yadin yadin ("He may judge, he may judge" or "May he judge? He may judge."). This enables the recipient to serve as a judge on a rabbinical court and adjudicate cases of monetary law, among other responsibilities. The recipient of this ordination can be formally addressed as a dayan ("judge") and also retain the title of rabbi. Only a small percentage of rabbis earn the yadin yadin ordination. Although not strictly necessary, many Orthodox rabbis hold that a beth din (court of Jewish law) should be made up of dayanim with this ordination.

Orthodox and Modern Orthodox Judaism
An Orthodox semikhah requires the successful completion of a program encompassing Jewish law ("Halakha") and responsa in keeping with longstanding tradition. Orthodox rabbis typically study at yeshivas, "colleges" which provide Torah study generally, and increasingly at dedicated institutions; both are also referred to as "Talmudical/Rabbinical schools or academies"; see. In both cases, the program is effectively post-graduate, comprising two years on average, following at least four years' yeshiva study.

In achieving semikhah, rabbinical students work to gain knowledge in specific and relevant Talmudic sugyas, and their development in the Rishonim and Acharonim (early and late medieval commentators), leading to their application in Halakha—particularly as traced by the Tur. Building on this, is the study of those sections of the Shulchan Aruch (codified Jewish law)—together with its main commentaries—that pertain to daily-life questions (such as the laws of keeping kosher, Shabbat, and the laws of family purity). An element of shimush, or "apprenticeship", is often also required.

Religious Zionist and Modern Orthodox rabbinical students, such as those at the Hesder yeshivot and Yeshiva University respectively, additionally formally study hashkafa, i.e. the major elements of theology and philosophy and their application to contemporary questions, proceeding systematically through the classical rabbinic works here; other students will have studied these works independently (see ).

The entrance requirements for an Orthodox yeshiva include a strong background within Jewish law, liturgy, Talmudic study, and attendant languages (e.g., Hebrew, Aramaic and in some cases Yiddish). Specifically, students are expected to have acquired deep analytic skills, and breadth, in Talmud before commencing their rabbinic studies. At the same time, since rabbinical studies typically flow from other yeshiva studies, those who seek semichah are typically not required to have completed a university education. Exceptions exist, such as Yeshiva University, which requires all rabbinical students to complete an undergraduate degree before entering the program, and a Masters or equivalent before ordination.

Historically, women could not become Orthodox rabbis. Starting in 2009, some Modern Orthodox institutions began ordaining women with the title of "Maharat", and later with titles including "Rabbah" and "Rabbi". This is currently a contested issue for many Orthodox institutions, leading some to seek alternate clerical titles and roles for women (see, Toanot Rabniyot, and Yoetzet Halacha).

While some Haredi (including Hasidic) yeshivas do grant official ordination to many students wishing to become rabbis, most of the students within the yeshivas engage in learning Torah or Talmud without the goal of becoming rabbis or holding any official positions. The curriculum for obtaining ordination as rabbis for Haredi scholars is the same as described above for all Orthodox students wishing to obtain the official title of "Rabbi" and to be recognized as such.

Within the Hasidic world, the positions of spiritual leadership are dynastically transmitted within established families, usually from fathers to sons, while a small number of students obtain official ordination to become dayanim ("judges") on religious courts, poskim ("decisors" of Jewish law), as well as teachers in the Hasidic schools. The same is true for the non-Hasidic Litvish yeshivas that are controlled by dynastically transmitted rosh yeshivas and the majority of students will not become rabbis, even after many years of post-graduate kollel study.

Some yeshivas, such as Yeshivas Chafetz Chaim and Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, Maryland, may encourage their students to obtain semichah and mostly serve as rabbis who teach in other yeshivas or Hebrew day schools. Other yeshivas, such as Yeshiva Chaim Berlin (Brooklyn, New York) or the Mirrer Yeshiva (in Brooklyn and Jerusalem), do not have an official "semichah/rabbinical program" to train rabbis, but provide semichah on an "as needed" basis if and when one of their senior students is offered a rabbinical position but only with the approval of their rosh yeshivas.

Haredim will often prefer using Hebrew names for rabbinic titles based on older traditions, such as: Rav (denoting "rabbi"), HaRav ("the rabbi"), Moreinu HaRav ("our teacher the rabbi"), Moreinu ("our teacher"), Moreinu VeRabeinu HaRav ("our teacher and our rabbi/master the rabbi"), Moreinu VeRabeinu ("our teacher and our rabbi/master"), Rosh yeshiva ("[the] head [of the] yeshiva"), Rosh HaYeshiva ("head [of] the yeshiva"), "Mashgiach" (for Mashgiach ruchani) ("spiritual supervsor/guide"), Mora DeAsra ("teacher/decisor" [of] the/this place"), HaGaon ("the genius"), Rebbe ("[our/my] rabbi"), HaTzadik ("the righteous/saintly"), "ADMOR" ("Adoneinu Moreinu VeRabeinu") ("our master, our teacher and our rabbi/master") or often just plain Reb which is a shortened form of rebbe that can be used by, or applied to, any married Jewish male as the situation applies.

Note: A rebbetzin (a Yiddish usage common among Ashkenazim) or a rabbanit (in Hebrew and used among Sephardim) is the official "title" used for, or by, the wife of any Orthodox, Haredi, or Hasidic rabbi. Rebbetzin may also be used as the equivalent of Reb and is sometimes abbreviated as such as well.

Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism confers semikhah after the completion of a program in the codes of Jewish law and responsa in keeping with Jewish tradition. In addition to knowledge and mastery of the study of Talmud and halakhah, Conservative semikhah also requires that its rabbinical students receive intensive training in Tanakh, classical biblical commentaries, biblical criticism, Midrash, Kabbalah and Hasidut, the historical development of Judaism from antiquity to modernity, Jewish ethics, the halakhic methodology of Conservative responsa, classical and modern works of Jewish theology and philosophy, synagogue administration, pastoral care, chaplaincy, non-profit management, and navigating the modern world in a Jewish context. Entrance requirements to Conservative rabbinical study centers include a background within Jewish law and liturgy, familiarity with rabbinic literature, Talmud, etc., ritual observance according to Conservative halakha, and the completion of an undergraduate university degree. In accordance with national collegiate accreditation requirements, Conservative rabbinical students earn a Master of Arts in Rabbinic Literature in addition to receiving ordination. See

Reform Judaism
In Reform Judaism rabbinic studies are mandated in pastoral care, the historical development of Judaism, academic biblical criticism, in addition to the study of traditional rabbinic texts. Rabbinical students also are required to gain practical rabbinic experience by working at a congregation as a rabbinic intern during each year of study from year one onwards. All Reform seminaries ordain women and openly LGBT people as rabbis and cantors. See

Seminaries unaffiliated with main denominations
There are several possibilities for receiving rabbinic ordination in addition to seminaries maintained by the large Jewish denominations; these are the Academy for Jewish Religion in New York City, AJR in California, ALEPH Ordination Program, the Jewish Renewal Seminary online, Hebrew College in Boston, and Hebrew Seminary in Illinois. The structure and curricula here are largely as at other non-Orthodox yeshivot.

More recently established are several non-traditional, and nondenominational (also called "transdenominational" or "postdenominational") seminaries. These grant semicha with lesser requirements re time, and with a modified curriculum, generally focusing on leadership and pastoral roles. These are JSLI, RSI, PRS, and Ateret Tzvi. The Wolkowisk Mesifta is aimed at community professionals with significant knowledge and experience, and provides a tailored curriculum to each candidate.

Interdenominational recognition
Historically and until the present, recognition of a rabbi relates to a community's perception of the rabbi's competence to interpret Jewish law and act as a teacher on central matters within Judaism. More broadly speaking, it is also an issue of being a worthy successor to a sacred legacy.

As a result, there have always been greater or lesser disputes about the legitimacy and authority of rabbis. Historical examples include Samaritans and Karaites.

The divisions between Jewish denominations may have their most pronounced manifestation on whether rabbis from one denomination recognize the legitimacy or authority of rabbis in another.

As a general rule within Orthodoxy and among some in the Conservative movement, rabbis are reluctant to accept the authority of other rabbis whose Halakhic standards are not as strict as their own. In some cases, this leads to an outright rejection of even the legitimacy of other rabbis; in others, the more lenient rabbi may be recognized as a spiritual leader of a particular community but may not be accepted as a credible authority on Jewish law.
 * The Orthodox rabbinical establishment rejects the validity of Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis on the grounds that their movements' teachings are in violation of traditional Jewish tenets. Some Modern Orthodox rabbis are respectful toward non-Orthodox rabbis and focus on commonalities even as they disagree on interpretation of some areas of Halakha (with Conservative rabbis) or the authority of Halakha (with Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis).
 * Conservative rabbis accept the legitimacy of Orthodox rabbis, though they are often critical of Orthodox positions. Although they would rarely look to Reform or Reconstructionist rabbis for Halakhic decisions, they accept the legitimacy of these rabbis' religious leadership.
 * Reform and Reconstructionist rabbis, on the premise that all the main movements are legitimate expressions of Judaism, will accept the legitimacy of other rabbis' leadership, though will not accept their views on Jewish law, since Reform and Reconstructionists reject Halakha as binding.

These debates cause great problems for recognition of Jewish marriages, conversions, and other life decisions that are touched by Jewish law. Orthodox rabbis do not recognize conversions by non-Orthodox rabbis. Conservative rabbis recognise all conversions done according to Halakha. Finally, the North American Reform and Reconstructionists recognize patrilineality, under certain circumstances, as a valid claim towards Judaism, whereas Conservative and Orthodox maintain the position expressed in the Talmud and Codes that one can be a Jew only through matrilineality (born of a Jewish mother) or through conversion to Judaism.

Women rabbis
With few rare exceptions, Jewish women have historically been excluded from serving as rabbis. This changed in the 1970s; coinciding with the shift in American society involving second-wave feminism, the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion began ordaining women as rabbis. Today, Jewish women serve as rabbis within all progressive branches of Judaism, while in Orthodox Judaism women rabbis is a contested matter, though many communities allow alternate clerical roles for women (see: Yoetzet Halacha). A variety of modern titles have been coined for female rabbis, including Rabbah, Rabbanit , and Maharat.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Rabbi


text:
Kenneth Horne

Charles Kenneth Horne, generally known as Kenneth Horne, (27 February 1907 – 14 February 1969) was an English comedian and businessman. He is perhaps best remembered for his work on three BBC Radio series: Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh (1944–1954), Beyond Our Ken (1958–1964) and Round the Horne (1965–1968).

The son of a clergyman who was also a politician, Horne had a burgeoning business career with Triplex Safety Glass, which was interrupted by service with the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. While serving in a barrage balloon unit, he was asked to broadcast as a quizmaster on the BBC radio show Ack-Ack, Beer-Beer. The experience brought him into contact with the more established entertainer Richard Murdoch, and the two wrote and starred in the comedy series Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh. After demobilisation Horne returned to his business career, and kept his broadcasting as a sideline. His career in industry flourished, and he later became the chairman and managing director of toy manufacturers Chad Valley.

In 1958 Horne suffered a stroke and gave up his business dealings to focus on his entertainment work. He was the anchor figure in Beyond Our Ken, which also featured Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick, Betty Marsden and Bill Pertwee. When the programme came to an end in 1964, the same cast recorded four series of the comedy Round the Horne.

Before the planned fifth series of Round the Horne began recording, Horne died of a heart attack while hosting the annual Guild of Television Producers' and Directors' Awards; Round the Horne could not continue without him and was withdrawn. The series has been regularly re-broadcast since his death. A 2002 BBC radio survey to find listeners' favourite British comedian placed Horne third, behind Tony Hancock and Spike Milligan.

Early life
Kenneth Horne was born Charles Kenneth Horne on 27 February 1907 at Ampthill Square, London. He was the seventh and youngest child of Silvester Horne and his wife, Katherine Maria  Cozens-Hardy. Katherine's father was Herbert Cozens-Hardy, the Liberal MP for North Norfolk who became the Master of the Rolls in 1907 and Baron Cozens-Hardy on 1 July 1914. Silvester, a powerful orator, was a leading light in the Congregationalist movement, as minister at the Whitefield's Tabernacle, Tottenham Court Road from 1903 and, from 1910, chairman of the Congregational Union of England and Wales. Between 1910 and 1914 he was the Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) for Ipswich.

By 1913 Silvester was suffering from continual poor health. He resigned his position at the tabernacle on medical advice in January 1914, and intended to resign his parliamentary seat. On a speaking tour of the US and Canada he lectured at Yale University, and then travelled to Toronto; as the ferry he took entered harbour, he collapsed and died, aged 49; Horne was aged seven at the time. From September that year Horne attended St George's School, Harpenden as a boarder—the seventh of the Horne children to attend the school. Although he was not strong academically, he developed into a good sportsman, representing the school in rugby and cricket, and during the summer holidays took part in the Public Schoolboys Lawn Tennis Championship at Queen's Club; in his final appearance in 1925 he was knocked out by the future Wimbledon finalist Bunny Austin.

Horne enrolled at the London School of Economics in October 1925, where his tutors included Hugh Dalton and Stephen Leacock; he was dissatisfied with his time at the university and called Leacock "one of the most boring lecturers I ever came across". During the general strike in 1926 volunteers were asked to enlist at the Organisation for the Maintenance of Supplies to take over the essential services; Horne joined, and spent two days driving a London bus before the strike was called off. Through the influence and generosity of an uncle, Austin Pilkington of the Pilkington glassmaking family of St Helens, he was able to enrol at Magdalene College, Cambridge in October 1926. He committed himself to the sporting side of life and represented the college at rugby, and in the relay team alongside the future Olympic gold medallist Lord Burghley. He also played tennis for the university, partnering Bunny Austin. Distracted by his athletic exploits, he neglected his studies and was sent down in December 1927.

Austin Pilkington was aggrieved at Horne's failure to make the most of the opportunity he had provided, and decided against offering the young man a post in the family firm. Despite the disappointment, through his contacts within the industry, he secured for the young Horne an interview with the Triplex Safety Glass Company at King's Norton, a district of Birmingham. Horne's sporting record commended him to the manager of the Triplex factory, and he was taken on as a management trainee on a modest salary. In September 1930, despite his unimpressive finances, he married Lady Mary Pelham-Clinton-Hope, daughter of the 8th Duke of Newcastle. The marriage was happy at first, but had broken down by 1932. Mary applied for an annulment in November 1932; she declared the reason was "the incapacity of the respondent [Charles Kenneth Horne] to consummate the marriage", which was dissolved in 1933, although the two remained on friendly terms thereafter.

When Horne's first marriage was dissolved, he was sought out by a former girlfriend, Joan Burgess, daughter of a neighbour at King's Norton. Unlike his first wife, she had much in common with him, including a liking for squash, tennis, golf and dancing. A month before her 21st birthday they were married, in September 1936. Joan became pregnant soon after the wedding, and in July 1937 a baby boy was delivered; he was stillborn.

Service in the RAF
In 1938 Horne enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on a part-time training scheme. He was commissioned as an acting pilot officer in No. 911 (County of Warwick) Squadron, a barrage balloon unit in Sutton Coldfield, and was called up into the RAF full-time on the outbreak of war. In the initial months of the conflict—the Phoney War—Horne's duties were undemanding, and he formed a concert party from his friends and colleagues. In November 1940 he was promoted to flight lieutenant, and to squadron leader a year later. In early 1942, the BBC producer Bill McLurg asked whether the RAF station at which Horne was based could put on an edition of his programme Ack-Ack, Beer-Beer. Horne was ordered to put on the show, and he made his broadcasting debut on 16 April 1942, as the compere. Although the standard of the talent on the show was not high, McLurg was impressed with Horne's presentation, especially the way he hosted the programme's quiz; he invited Horne to be the programme's regular quizmaster, a role the latter fulfilled on over fifty Ack-Ack, Beer-Beer quizzes over the next two years. In January 1943 he became one of the show's regular comperes and presented the entire show for the first time.

In March 1943 Horne was posted to the Air Ministry in London, with the rank of wing commander. Continuing to broadcast on Ack-Ack, Beer-Beer, he also began to write sketches for the programme, and make broadcasts on other shows, including the Overseas Recorded Broadcasting Service (ORBS), to be transmitted to British forces in the Middle East. His work with ORBS brought him into contact with Flight Lieutenant Richard Murdoch, who he jokingly introduced in one broadcast as "the station commander of Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh"; with a great deal in common in their backgrounds and a similar sense of humour, the pair quickly formed a friendship. Horne informed Murdoch of a squadron leader vacancy in his section at the Ministry, and Murdoch became his colleague. Murdoch, a professional actor and entertainer for 12 years before the war, recognised Horne's talent as a performer, and used his contacts to secure him more broadcasting work.

Ack-Ack, Beer-Beer came to an end in February 1944 when the BBC decided to direct their programming at the general armed forces, rather than the barrage balloon crews. A month later Horne and Murdoch had expanded the idea of the remote and fictitious Royal Air Force station, Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh. The pair took the idea to the BBC producer Leslie Bridgemont who was responsible for the show Merry-go-Round, which featured, in weekly rotation, shows based on the Army, Navy and RAF. Bridgemont included a Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh section in Merry-go-Round on 31 March 1944; Horne played "an officer so dim that even the other officers noticed", with Murdoch as his harassed second-in-command and Sam Costa as an "amiable chump who always got things wrong".

During 1944 Horne met and fell in love with Marjorie Thomas, a war widow with a young daughter. He was divorced in early 1945, and he and Thomas were married in November that year, three months after he had been demobilised.

Postwar, a double career: 1945–1958
On his return to civilian life, Horne resumed working at Triplex, and was promoted to the position of sales director. Despite his subsequent joint career in broadcasting and business, his commercial activities always took precedence. He declared that his work on radio was only a hobby, and that he would give it up before his business career. He combined his two roles by working full-time, and writing scripts with Murdoch at weekends.

Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh had gained sufficient popularity over its run of 20 Merry-go-Round episodes to be given its own 39-week series beginning in January 1947. With the coming of peace, the supposed RAF station became a civil airport, and the show continued much as before, written by and starring Horne and Murdoch, with Sam Costa. Maurice Denham—described by Murdoch as a vocal chameleon—joined the cast and played over 60 roles. The programme became popular, with audiences of 20 million, and ran for four series until September 1950.

In March 1948 Horne appeared with Murdoch in six episodes of the BBC Television comedy series Kaleidoscope. In June that year he and Murdoch again appeared on television in a one-off sitcom, At Home, which they wrote. The following year Horne began his connection with Twenty Questions, an association that lasted, on-and-off, for 20 years. By the fourth series of Much-Binding in 1950, the listener figures had declined to a level that concerned the BBC and they decided against a fifth series. Rather than wait to see what other offers of work would come in from the Corporation, Horne and Murdoch signed the comedy to a 35-programme series on Radio Luxembourg between October 1950 and June 1951. The programme was poorly received on the commercial channel: Murdoch observed that "it wasn't really a great success—even my mother said it was rotten, and she was my greatest fan". After one series, the show returned to the BBC in 1951–1952, although renamed as Over to You. Murdoch and Horne again appeared together, in April 1952, on Desert Island Discs.

In 1954, after nine years in his senior position at Triplex, and 27 years at the company, Horne accepted the position of managing director of the British Industries Fair, a government-backed organisation promoting British goods worldwide; he took up his position in July 1955. Much of the work involved liaising with foreign buyers and delegations, and he accompanied the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh on visits to the annual fair. In 1956 the government withdrew its funding and the BIF closed. Horne received several attractive job offers, and chose the post of chairman and managing director of the toy manufacturers Chad Valley, where he was a success. In September that year he and Murdoch appeared in a one-off television programme Show for the Telly.

In January 1957 Horne appeared as the compere on the popular Saturday evening comedy and music radio show Variety Playhouse, initially for a run of four months, but soon extended until the end of June. He also began to write a weekly column for the women's magazine She, and to appear in an increasing number of other programmes. After his work on Variety Playhouse had finished, he and the programme's writers Eric Merriman and Barry Took prepared a script for a pilot episode of a new show, Beyond Our Ken. The show, in which Horne was joined by Kenneth Williams, Ron Moody, Hugh Paddick and Betty Marsden, was broadcast in October 1957.

A single career: 1958–1969
The pilot episode of Beyond Our Ken was well received by the BBC, and they commissioned a series to start in April 1958. On 27 February that year—his 51st birthday—Horne suffered a debilitating stroke and was totally paralysed down his left-hand side and lost the power of speech. He underwent a course of intensive physiotherapy and was able to return home after two weeks. His voice returned when, during heavy massage on his left thigh, a sharp pain led to him shouting "You bugger!" at the physiotherapist. His doctor told him that the stroke was caused by the stress of combining a full-time business post with his broadcasting work. He also told Horne that when he had recovered he would never be fit enough to continue as before. Horne considered that it was not the physical problem of combining his two careers, but the mental strain of problems in his business life; accordingly he decided to give up commerce and concentrate on a career in entertainment. Because of the stroke, plans for Beyond Our Ken were suspended.

In April 1958 Horne eased himself back into broadcasting as chairman of Twenty Questions. This evidence of his recovery was sufficient for the BBC to begin recording Beyond Our Ken in June, in preparation for the broadcast of the first series between July and November. Beyond Our Ken was written around the imperturbable establishment figure of Horne, while the other performers played a "spectrum of characters never before heard on the radio", including the exaggeratedly upper class Rodney and Charles, the genteel pensioners Ambrose and Felicity, the cook Fanny Haddock—a parody of popular TV cook Fanny Cradock—and the gardener Arthur Fallowfield. The first episode was not well received by a sample audience, but the BBC decided to back Horne and his team, and the initial six-week contract was extended to 21 weeks. Before the series came to an end, a second had been commissioned to run the following year. After the first series Moody was succeeded by Bill Pertwee; Took left after the second series, leaving Merriman to write the remaining programmes on his own.

The second series of Beyond Our Ken followed in 1959; a third in 1960. Horne also continued his work in television, hosting his own series, Trader Horne, and appearing on a number of other programmes. In April 1961 he made his second appearance on Desert Island Discs, this time unaccompanied by Murdoch. In October that year—three weeks after the fifth series of Beyond Our Ken began recording—Horne appeared as the anchorman on a new BBC television series, Let's Imagine, a discussion programme which ran for 20 editions over 18 months. He was the subject of This Is Your Life in February 1962, hosted by Eamonn Andrews, in which guests included friends and colleagues from his connections in business and entertainment. In June 1963 he began Ken's Column, a series of 15-minute one-man programmes for Anglia Television.

The seventh series of Beyond Our Ken finished in February 1964, with an average audience of ten million listeners per programme. In September that year Horne returned from holiday and was scheduled to appear in a number of programmes; Eric Merriman objected to Horne's activities, saying that Horne had been made into a star by the writer, and that "no other comedy series should be allowed to use him". When the BBC refused to withdraw Horne from the second programme, Down with Women, Merriman resigned from writing Beyond Our Ken and the show came to an end. After some pressure from Horne to keep the remainder of the team together, the BBC commissioned a replacement series, Round the Horne, on similar lines. They turned to one of the original writers of Beyond Our Ken, Barry Took and his new writing partner, Marty Feldman. Horne remained the genial and unflappable focal figure, and the writers invented several new and eccentric characters to revolve round him. They included J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock, the walking slum; the Noël Coward parodies Charles and Fiona; the incompetent villain Dr. Chou En Ginsberg; the folk singer Rambling Syd Rumpo and the "outrageously camp" Julian and Sandy. The resulting programme was described by radio historians Andy Foster and Steve Furst as "one of the seminal comedies to come out of the BBC", while The Spectator described it as "one of the great radio successes". The first series of Round the Horne, consisting of 16 episodes, ran from March to June 1965. Horne's role was to provide "the perfect foil to the inspired lunacy happening all around him":

On 7 October 1966, at the age of 59, Horne suffered a major heart attack. He was much weakened, and was unfit to work for three months. As a result, he did not appear in the Round the Horne Christmas special. He returned to work in January 1967 to record the third series.

Round the Horne ran to four series, broadcast in successive years, and finished in June 1968. Three weeks after the fourth series finished, the first episode of Horne A'Plenty was broadcast on ITV. In a sketch show format, and with Barry Took as script editor (and later producer), this was an attempt to translate the spirit of Round the Horne to television, although with different actors supporting Horne: Graham Stark, for example, substituted for Kenneth Williams and Sheila Steafel for Betty Marsden. The first six-part series ran from 22 June to 27 July 1968, the second (by which time ABC had become Thames Television) from 27 November to 1 January 1969.

Death and tributes
Because of his heart condition, Horne had been prescribed an anticoagulant, but had stopped taking it on the advice of a faith healer. Horne died of a heart attack on 14 February 1969, while hosting the annual Guild of Television Producers' and Directors' Awards at the Dorchester hotel in London. Presenting the awards was Earl Mountbatten of Burma; an award had gone to Barry Took and Marty Feldman for their TV series Marty, and Horne had just urged viewers to tune into the fifth series of Round the Horne (which was due to start on 16 March) when he fell from the podium. The televised recording of the event omitted the incident, with announcer Michael Aspel explaining, "Mr Horne was taken ill at this point and has since died." A memorial service was held at St Martin-in-the-Fields in March that year.

After his death, Horne was eulogised in The Times as "a master of the scandalous double-meaning delivered with shining innocence", while The Sunday Mirror called him "one of the few personalities who bridged the generation gap" and "perhaps the last of the truly great radio comics." In the December 1970 issue of The Listener, Barry Took recalled Round the Horne and said of its star:

"He was an unselfish performer, but it was still always his show. You just knew it. A Martian would have known it. His warmth tempered the sharpness of the writing ... To say that everyone loved him sounds like every obituary ever written – nonetheless it's true ... Horne was one of the few great men I have met, and his generosity of spirit and gesture have, in my experience, never been surpassed. I mourn him still."

On hearing the news Kenneth Williams wrote in his diary that "I loved that man. His unselfish nature, his kindness, tolerance and gentleness were an example to everyone". In The Sunday Times in February 1969, Paul Jennings wrote of him: "If I ever knew a gentleman, it was Kenneth Horne. ... He gave you his whole attention, his whole courtesy. And what a courtesy it was! ... I knew him in the context of panel games, to which his marvellous unforced humour, spontaneous but beautifully timed, always added sparkle."

Technique
Horne's friend, Barry Took, considered that "Horne's rich, fruity voice and warm patrician manner made him the ideal link man and that, coupled with a mischievous sense of humour, ensured that any programme in which he was involved was the better for his presence". Horne attributed his voice and delivery "to 'the Grace of God', his grandfather Lord Cozens-Hardy, the former Master of the Rolls, and the hard training of being 'a jovial chap among the golf and motoring fraternity'."

The obituarist for The Times highlighted Horne's "remarkably skilful but very personal comic technique" of playing "a friendly good-natured old buffer who was simply doing his best, apparently lost in wonder, at the glossier, more spectacular talents of those among whom he found himself". The media analysts Frank Krutnik and Steve Neale see a similar role, and consider that "Horne functioned, like [Jack] Benny, [Fred] Allen and [Tommy] Handley before him, as a 'stooge' rather than a joke-wielder, frequently switching roles between announcer and in-sketch performer".

In Round the Horne, as well as acting as link man, Horne also played other character roles in the film and melodrama spoofs, but always sounded exactly like Kenneth Horne. Referring to his ability with voices, he commented that "between them Betty, Ken W., Hugh and Bill Pertwee can provide at least 100 voices, and if you take me into account the figure leaps to 101." Williams reported that Horne had a card index mind, "in which there seemed to be stored every funny voice, every dialect, every comedy trick, which he knew that each member of the cast was capable of", and would suggest a change in approach if a line did not work during rehearsals.

Graham Ball, writing in the Sunday Express observed that Horne "didn't tell jokes in the usual manner, didn't have a catchphrase and never resorted to blue comedy". Ball also identified that Horne's "stage character, that of a slightly bufferish English gent, was adored by middle- and working-class audiences alike. His humour was original, almost underplayed, but the effortless delivery and uncanny timing concealed an almost anarchic sense of mischief."

Legacy
By 24 February 1969 it had been decided that Round the Horne could not continue without its star. As a result, the scripts for Series Five (which Horne had jokingly suggested should be subtitled 'The First All-Nude Radio Show') were hastily adapted into a new series for Kenneth Williams called Stop Messing About, which ran for two series but was widely judged a failure and discontinued in 1970. On the first day of recording the new show, Williams wrote in his diary that "I miss [Horne] dreadfully. I could weep for all that goodness gone from our atmosphere at the show".

A successful stage show called Round the Horne ... Revisited opened in London in October 2003, compiled by Series Four co-writer Brian Cooke from original scripts. It ran until April 2005, and also generated three nationwide tours and a BBC television film. On 27 February 2007 (Horne's centenary), BBC Radio 4 broadcast a half-hour documentary tribute entitled Sound the Horne, hosted by Jimmy Carr. The following year, on 18 September, another Radio 4 documentary was broadcast; called Thoroughly Modest Mollie, this focused on Horne's frequent ghost-writer, Mollie Millest. A new show, devised by Barry Took's widow Lyn, called Round the Horne – Unseen and Uncut, toured in 2008 and 2009. In 2009 an unbroadcast pilot script written by Horne and Millest in 1966 was produced by the same Radio 4 team. Called Twice Ken is Plenty and intended as a two-man showcase for Horne and Kenneth Williams, it was broadcast on 1 September 2009.

Horne has been the subject of two biographies, Norman Hackforth's Solo for Horne in 1976 and Barry Johnston's Round Mr Horne: The Life of Kenneth Horne in 2006. In 1998 Ernie Wise unveiled a blue plaque to Horne at BBC Broadcasting House. Editions of Beyond Our Ken and Round the Horne are regularly broadcast on the digital radio service BBC Radio 4 Extra, and by 2006 over half a million copies of tapes and CDs of Round the Horne had been sold by the BBC. In a 2002 survey conducted by the BBC to find listeners' favourite British comedian, Horne appeared third, behind Tony Hancock and Spike Milligan.

title: Kenneth Horne