rabbi

noun

1. A Jewish scholar or teacher of halacha (Jewish law), capable of making halachic decisions.

   “Next, R. Moskowitz brings us to the Slonimer Rebbe, a late 20th century Hasidic rabbi, who taught that the evil of Esav was that very sense of completion, the self-perception that he had no need for growth or further transformation.”

2. A Jew who is the leader or is qualified to be the leader of a Jewish congregation.

   “"Elon Musk is spreading the kind of antisemitism that leads to massacres," reads the decree, which was signed by 164 "rabbis, leaders of Jewish organizations, artists, activists, and academics." "And advertisers are funding the platform that allows him to spread his ideology to hundreds of millions [of] people."”

3. (slang)A senior officer who acts as a mentor.

   “Hoskins? He doesn't have a better rabbi in the department than that?”

   “If I'm ever gonna make Captain, I need a good mentor. I need my rabbi.”

4. The title of a rabbi (a Jewish scholar or teacher); used before or instead of the rabbi's name.

   “This past weekend, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach set off a firestorm with his full-page ad in the New York Times accusing National Security Adviser Susan E. Rice of turning a blind eye to the Rwandan genocide when she was on President Bill Clinton’s national security team in the 1990s.”