Clergy Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == Judaism == [[File:Reb Moshe Feinstein.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|Rabbi [[Moshe Feinstein]], a leading Rabbinical authority for Orthodox Jewry]] [[Rabbinic Judaism]] does not have clergy as such, although according to the [[Torah]] there is a tribe of priests known as the [[Kohen|Kohanim]] who were leaders of the religion up to the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem]] in 70 AD when most [[Sadducee]]s were wiped out; each member of the tribe, a Kohen had priestly duties, many of which centered around the sacrificial duties, atonement and blessings of the Israelite nation. Today, Jewish Kohanim know their status by family tradition, and still offer the priestly blessing during certain services in the synagogue and perform the ''[[Pidyon haben]]'' (redemption of the first-born son) ceremony. Since the time of the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, the religious leaders of Judaism have often been [[rabbi]]s, who are technically scholars in Jewish law empowered to act as judges in a [[Beth din|rabbinical court]]. All types of Judaism except Orthodox Judaism allow women as well as men to be ordained as rabbis and [[Hazzan|cantors]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.forward.com/articles/106320/ |title=Orthodox Women To Be Trained As Clergy, If Not Yet as Rabbis |website=Forward.com |date=21 May 2009 |access-date=3 September 2013 |archive-date=6 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206073454/http://www.forward.com/articles/106320/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web| website= myjewishlearning.com| url= http://www.myjewishlearning.com/practices/Ritual/Prayer/Synagogue_and_Religious_Leaders/What_is_a_Cantor.shtml| title= The Cantor| publisher= My Jewish Learning| access-date= 3 September 2013| archive-date= 27 September 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100927082053/http://www.myjewishlearning.com/practices/Ritual/Prayer/Synagogue_and_Religious_Leaders/What_is_a_Cantor.shtml| url-status= dead}}</ref> The leadership of a Jewish congregation is, in fact, in the hands of the laity: the president of a synagogue is its actual leader and any adult male Jew (or adult Jew in non-traditional congregations) can lead prayer services. The rabbi is not an occupation found in the Torah; the first time this word is mentioned is in the [[Mishnah]]. The modern form of the rabbi developed in the [[Talmud]]ic era. Rabbis are given authority to make interpretations of [[Halakha|Jewish law and custom]]. Traditionally, a man obtains one of three levels of [[Semicha]] (rabbinic ordination) after the completion of an arduous learning program in Torah, [[Tanakh]] (Hebrew Bible), Mishnah and Talmud, [[Midrash]], Jewish ethics and lore, the codes of [[halakha|Jewish law]] and [[responsa]], [[theology]] and [[philosophy]]. [[File:ReginaJonas1.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.7|[[Regina Jonas]], the world's first female rabbi, ordained in 1935, killed in the [[Holocaust]] in 1944.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| url= http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/jonas-regina| title= Regina Jonas| first= Elisa| last= Klapheck| encyclopedia= The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women| via= jwa.org| publisher= Jewish Women's Archive| access-date= August 30, 2021| archive-date= April 21, 2019| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190421135109/https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/jonas-regina| url-status= live}}</ref>]] Since the early medieval era an additional communal role, the ''[[Hazzan]]'' (cantor) has existed as well. Cantors have sometimes been the only functionaries of a synagogue, empowered to undertake religio-civil functions like witnessing marriages. Cantors do provide leadership of actual services, primarily because of their training and expertise in the music and prayer rituals pertaining to them, rather than because of any spiritual or "sacramental" distinction between them and the laity. Cantors as much as rabbis have been recognized by civil authorities in the United States as clergy for legal purposes, mostly for awarding education degrees and their ability to perform weddings, and certify births and deaths. Additionally, Jewish authorities license ''[[Mohel|mohalim]]'', people specially trained by experts in Jewish law and usually also by medical professionals to perform the ritual of circumcision.<ref name="jweekly1">{{cite news |url= http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/28632/making-the-cut/ |title= Making the cut |work= j., the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California |via= jweekly.com |date= 3 March 2006 |access-date= 3 September 2013 |archive-date= 25 October 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121025140316/http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/28632/making-the-cut/ |url-status= live }}</ref> Traditional Orthodox Judaism does not generally license women as mohelot, unless a Jewish male expert is absent, but other movements of Judaism do. They are appropriately called ''mohelot'' (pl. of ''mohelet,'' f. of mohel).<ref name="jweekly1" /> As the ''j., the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California'', states, "...there is no halachic prescription against female mohels, [but] none exist in the Orthodox world, where the preference is that the task be undertaken by a Jewish man.".<ref name="jweekly1"/> In many places, mohalim are also licensed by civil authorities, as circumcision is technically a surgical procedure. Kohanim, who must avoid contact with dead human body parts (such as the removed foreskin) for ritual purity, cannot act as mohalim,{{citation needed|date=July 2013}} but some mohalim are also either rabbis or cantors. Another licensed cleric in Judaism is the ''[[shochet]]'', who are trained and licensed by religious authorities for [[kosher]] slaughter according to ritual law. A Kohen may be a shochet. Most shochetim are ordained rabbis.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Grandin|first=Temple|year=1980|title=Problems With Kosher Slaughter|url=http://animalstudiesrepository.org/acwp_faafp/21/|journal=International Journal for the Study of Animal Problems|volume=1|issue=6|pages=375β390|via=The Humane Society of the United States|access-date=2017-01-17|archive-date=2017-01-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118051502/http://animalstudiesrepository.org/acwp_faafp/21/|url-status=live}}</ref> Then there is the ''[[Mashgiach|mashgiach/mashgicha]]''. ''Mashgichim'' are observant Jews who supervise the ''[[kashrut]]'' status of a kosher establishment. The ''mashgichim'' must know the Torah laws of ''kashrut'', and how they apply in the environment they are supervising. This can vary. In many instances, the ''mashgiach''/''mashgicha'' is a rabbi. This helps, since rabbinical students learn the laws of kosher as part of their syllabus. However, not all ''mashgichim'' are rabbis, and not all rabbis are qualified to be ''mashgichim''. === Orthodox Judaism === In contemporary Orthodox Judaism, women are usually forbidden from becoming rabbis or cantors.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}} Most Orthodox rabbinical seminaries or yeshivas also require dedication of many years to education, but few require a formal degree from a civil education institution that often define Christian clergy. Training is often focused on Jewish law, and some Orthodox Yeshivas forbid secular education. In [[Hasidic Judaism]], generally understood as a branch of Orthodox Judaism, there are dynastic spiritual leaders known as ''[[Rebbe]]s'', often translated in English as "Grand Rabbi". The office of Rebbe is generally a hereditary one, but may also be passed from Rebbe to student or by recognition of a congregation conferring a sort of coronation to their new Rebbe. Although one does not need to be an ordained Rabbi to be a Rebbe, most Rebbes today are ordained Rabbis. Since one does not need to be an ordained rabbi to be a Rebbe, at some points in history there were female Rebbes as well, particularly the [[Maiden of Ludmir]]. === Conservative Judaism === In [[Conservative Judaism]], both men and women are ordained as rabbis and cantors. Conservative Judaism differs with Orthodoxy in that it sees Jewish Law as binding but also as subject to many interpretations, including more liberal interpretations. Academic requirements for becoming a rabbi are rigorous. First earn a bachelor's degree before entering rabbinical school. Studies are mandated in pastoral care and psychology, the historical development of Judaism and most importantly the academic study of Bible, Talmud and [[rabbinic literature]], philosophy and theology, liturgy, Jewish history, and Hebrew literature of all periods. === Reconstructionist and Reform Judaism === [[Reconstructionist Judaism]] and [[Reform Judaism]] do not maintain the traditional requirements for study as rooted in Jewish Law and traditionalist text. Both men and women may be rabbis or cantors. The rabbinical seminaries of these movements hold that one must first earn a bachelor's degree before entering the rabbinate. In addition studies are mandated in pastoral care and psychology, the historical development of Judaism; and academic biblical criticism. Emphasis is placed not on Jewish law, but rather on sociology, modern Jewish philosophy, theology and pastoral care. 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