rabbinate

noun

rab·​bin·​ate ˈra-bə-nət How to pronounce rabbinate (audio)
-ˌnāt
1
: the office or tenure of a rabbi
2
: the whole body of rabbis

Examples of rabbinate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web This Hollywood rabbinate explains that local synagogues have for decades required visible, often armed security. Seth Abramovitch, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Dec. 2023 In 2005, the chief rabbinate of Israel said it is forbidden for Jews to walk on the site to avoid accidentally entering the Holy of Holies – the inner sanctum of the Temple, believed to be God’s dwelling place on earth. Ken Chitwood, The Conversation, 9 Oct. 2023 The legal system developed alternatives for heterosexual Jewish couples who did not want to or could not marry through the Jewish rabbinate, such as extending many of marriage’s civil benefits to cohabitating couples. Orit Avishai, The Conversation, 1 June 2023 That your siblings might marry someone acceptable to the Orthodox rabbinate in order to secure this inheritance raises doubts about its decency. Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 9 June 2023 The rift between American Jews and Israel has been widening for a long time, according to Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, which represents the largest denomination of Judaism in the United States but is considered illegitimate by the Orthodox rabbinate in Israel. Shira Rubin, Washington Post, 20 Dec. 2022 There has been a give and take between Jewish institutions and civil society: an Orthodox rabbinate that oversees Jewish life, shutdown of public life on Saturdays and funding for Yeshivas in exchange for the Orthodox leaders not intervening in everyday life, economy, the military, and culture. Time, 10 Jan. 2023 One of the most important came in 2016, when the court ruled that Israel must recognize conversions to Judaism performed in Israel outside of the rabbinate, which controls all religious matters in Israel, for the purposes of citizenship under the country’s Law of Return. Sun Sentinel, 4 Jan. 2023 Instead, he was drawn to the rabbinate. Daniel I. Dorfman, chicagotribune.com, 17 Feb. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rabbinate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1702, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of rabbinate was in 1702

Dictionary Entries Near rabbinate

Cite this Entry

“Rabbinate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rabbinate. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

rabbinate

noun
rab·​bin·​ate ˈrab-ə-nət How to pronounce rabbinate (audio)
-ˌnāt
1
: the office of a rabbi
2
: a group of rabbis

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