Rebbe

A Rebbe is generally taken to mean a great leader of a Hasidic dynasties, also referred to as Grand Rabbi in English or an ADMOR, a Hebrew abbreviation for Adoneinu-Moreinu-veRabbeinu ("our lord/master, teacher/guide and rabbi/teacher").

Rabbi Yisroel Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism is regarded by Hasidim, as the first Hasidic rebbe.

During his lifetime he was referred to mainly as "The holy one" rather than as "Rebbe," and his disciples were "magidim" or "preachers", such as the Magid of Chernobyl or the Magid of Mezritsh.

The first "rebbe" to be known as such was the Baal Shem Tov's grandson, Rabbi Boruch of Mezhbizh who was referred to as "The Rebbe" during his lifetime. After him, those who rose to positions of leadership and their successors began to be called rebbe. The title gradually came to suggest a higher spiritual status.

Each Hasidic group refers to its leader as "the rebbe".

Hannah Rachel Verbermacher, also known as the Maiden of Ludmir or the "Ludmirer Moyd", was the only female rebbe in the history of the Hasidic movement; she lived in the nineteenth century in Ukraine and Israel.

Outside of Hasidic circles the term "Grand Rabbi" has been used to refer to a rebbe. The practice became widespread in America in the early 1900s when Hasidic rebbes began to emigrate to the United States and was derived from the German Grossrabbiner.