The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1917 page)

(
c.
270–330 CE)
. Babylonian Jewish amora. Rabbah was head of the
Pumbedita
academy for twenty-two years during its time of greatest influence. Because of his skill in argument, he was known as Oker Harim, ‘uprooter of mountains’. His death was described as ‘being summoned to the heavenly academy’, thenceforth a synonym for the death of a learned person.

 
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Rabbanites
.

Name used to designate the opponents of the
Karaites
in the Jewish religion. From
c.
10th cent., the Rabbanites were those Jews who accepted the
oral law
in contrast to the Karaites who rejected it.

 
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Rabbi
,
Rabbinate

(Heb., ‘my master’). Hence ‘Rabbinic Judaism’. Jewish learned man who has received ordination (see
SEMIKHAH
). The term rabbi was not used as a title until the time of
Hillel
. In
Talmudic
times, this was not granted outside
Erez Israel
, so that the Babylonian sages bore the title of ‘Rav’. During this period rabbis were interpreters and expounders of the scriptures and
oral law
. It was not until the Middle Ages that a rabbi became the spiritual leader of a particular Jewish community. Originally rabbis were not paid. By the 14th cent. there is evidence of payment, not for teaching the law, but as compensation for loss of time taken up with rabbinical duties. In order to serve, the
Ashkenazim
in particular insisted that rabbis should have a diploma of
Semikhah
; and his duties were laid down in a letter of appointment (
ketav rabbanut
). As community leader, he was asked to give
responsa
on legal problems and ambiguities, and to serve in Jewish courts; later, in E. Europe, the office was frequently combined with that of ‘rosh
yeshivah
’ (head of the yeshivah). Nowadays the role of the rabbi varies from community to community. Among
Reform
congregations, he (and since 1972 possibly she) performs a function analogous to that of a Christian minister. The
Orthodox
rabbi has also taken on these duties, but has retained his role as legal consultant and interpreter of the written and oral law.

 
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Rabbinical conferences
.

Synods held by Jewish
rabbis
to provide authoritative guidance. From the mid-19th cent., the need was felt for rabbinical conferences to give definite rulings. This was firmly attacked by the
Orthodox
, who argued that no one could abrogate the least of the religious laws. None the less,
Reform
conferences were held at Wiesbaden in 1837, Brunswick in 1844, Frankfurt-am-Main in 1845, Breslau in 1846, Leipzig in 1869, and Augsburg in 1871. In the USA, the Reform movement adopted its Pittsburgh platform in 1887, which was partly reversed in 1937 at Columbus at its annual convention. In 1961, the Federation of
Reconstructionist
Congregations laid down its guidelines at a conference. Among the Orthodox, there has been some agitation for the restoral of the
Sanhedrin
.

 
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