rebbe

noun

reb·​be ˈre-bə How to pronounce rebbe (audio)
: a Jewish spiritual leader or teacher : rabbi

Examples of rebbe in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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If the Lubavitcher community had been struck by something on the scale of the Judeans’ loss of the Temple and their enslavement, what are now marginal, hallucinatory visions of the rebbe would almost certainly take on a more declarative, redemptive form. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 24 Mar. 2025 Mainstream Lubavitcher leadership is committed to carrying out the rebbe’s teachings and vision. Katherine Rosman, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2024 The oral transmission made the rebbe, a living person who could teach the law, necessary. Rabbi Avi Weiss, Sun Sentinel, 22 Aug. 2022 And the rebbe was raised in Dnipro. Washington Post, 15 Apr. 2022 On the night of Monday, Aug. 19, 1991, the Lubavitcher rebbe was returning home from a visit to a cemetery. Elliot Kaufman, WSJ, 20 Aug. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Yiddish rebe, from Hebrew rabbī rabbi

First Known Use

1881, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of rebbe was in 1881

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Cite this Entry

“Rebbe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rebbe. Accessed 5 Sep. 2025.

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