Editing Rebbe (section)

== Usage ==
Today, ''rebbe'' is used in the following ways:

# [[Rabbi]], a teacher of Torah:[[Yeshiva]] students or ''[[cheder]]'' (elementary school) students, when talking to their teacher, would address him with the [[Honorifics in Judaism|honorific]] ''Rebbe'', as the Yiddish-German equivalent to the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word ''rabbi'' ({{Script/Hebrew|רַבִּי}} ''{{transliteration|he|rabi}}'' {{IPA|he|ˈʁabi|}}).
# Personal mentor and teacher: A person's main [[Rosh Yeshiva]], Yeshiva teacher, or mentor, who teaches him or her Talmud and Torah and gives religious guidance, is referred to as ''rebbe'' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|ɛ|b|ə}}),<ref name="ODoE-rebbe">''Oxford Dictionary of English'', ''Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary''</ref> also as an equivalent to the term "rabbi".
# Spiritual leader: The spiritual head of a Hasidic movement is called a ''rebbe'' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|ɛ|b|ə}}).<ref name="ODoE-rebbe"/> His followers would address him as "The ''Rebbe''{{-"}} or refer to him when speaking to others as "the ''Rebbe''{{-"}} or "my ''Rebbe''{{-"}}. He is referred to by others as the ''Rebbe'' of a particular [[Hasidic dynasty]]. In Hebrew, a Hasidic rebbe is often referred to as an ''[[Honorifics in Judaism#Admo.22r|AdMoR]]'', which is an abbreviation for '''''Ad'''oneinu, '''Mo'''reinu, ve'''R'''abbenu'' ("Our Master, our Teacher, and our Rabbi"). In writing, this title is placed before the name of the Hasidut, as in "Admor of Belz"; while the title ''Rebbe'' comes after the name of the ''Hasidut'' when used as an adjective, as in "Lubavitcher Rebbe", "Amshinever Rebbe", and every rebbe of every [[List of Hasidic dynasties|Hasidic dynasty]]. In the ''[[Litvishe]]'' world, when not referring to a hasidic ''rebbe'' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|ɛ|b|ə}}<ref name="ODoE-rebbe"/>), the word can be pronounced "rebbee" ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|ɛ|b|i}}). Sephardic Jews can pronounce it as "Ribbi" ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|iː|b|i}}). The [[Lubavitch]]er hasidim have a tradition that the Hebrew letters that make up the word rebbe ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|ɛ|b|i}}) are also an acronym for "'''R'''osh '''B'''nei '''Y'''isroel", meaning "a spiritual head of the [[Children of Israel]]".

An ordinary communal rabbi, or ''rebbe'' in Yiddish, is sometimes distinct from a ''[[rav]]'' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|ɑː|v}}, also pronounced ''rov'' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|ɒ|v}} by Jews of Eastern European or Russian origin), who is a more authoritative [[Halakha|halakhic]] decider. A significant function of a ''rav'' is to answer questions of [[halakha]] (the corpus of Jewish law), but he is not as authoritative as a ''[[posek]]''. The short form ''[[Reb (Yiddish)|reb]]'' is an [[honorific]] for [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] men, who are most likely to have profound knowledge of the Talmud and Torah, as opposed to [[Reconstructionist Judaism|Reconstructionist]], [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] or [[Conservative Judaism]]. Originally, this title was added to the names of Jews at the time of the schism with the [[Karaite Judaism|Karaite sect]], as a sign of loyalty to the original [[Rabbinic Judaism|rabbinic tradition]], known today as [[Orthodox Judaism]].<ref>Rabbi [[Shlomo Zalman Auerbach]], ''Halikhot Shlomo'' 1:370–373;<br/> [[Salo Wittmayer Baron]], ''A Social and Religious History of the Jews'', vol. 5 p. 283</ref>