''Hakham'' (or ''Chakam(i), Haham(i), Hacham(i), Hach''; ) is a term in
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great
Torah
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
scholar. It can also refer to any cultured and learned person: "He who says a wise thing is called a ''Hakham'', even if he be not a Jew." Hence, in
Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
ic-
Midrash
''Midrash'' (;"midrash" . ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...
ic literature, wise gentiles are commonly called ' ("wise men of the nations of the world").
In Sephardic usage, ''hakham'' is a synonym for " rabbi".
In ancient times
''Hakham'' as an official title is found as early as the first Sanhedrin, after the reconstruction of that body, when the Hadrianic religious persecutions had ceased. In addition to the Simeon ben Gamliel, two other scholars stood at the head of the Sanhedrin, namely Nathan the Babylonian as '' Av Beit Din'' and Rabbi Meir as ''hakham''. Another hakham mentioned by name was Simon, the son of Judah ha-Nasi, who after the death of his father officiated as ''hakham'', with his elder brother the .
The exact functions of the ''hakham'' are not clear. Rapoport's suggestion that he was the arbiter in matters of ritual prohibition and permission is highly improbable. Zecharias Frankel looks upon the ''hakham'' as a presiding officer whose duty it was to examine a case in question from all points of view, and, having summed up the results, to present the matter for discussion. It is more probable, however, that the office of ''hakham'' was created in order to secure a majority in cases of difference of opinion between the and the Av Beit Din in the affairs of the Sanhedrin; one of the most eminent scholars was always chosen for the post. A baraita in Moed Kattan 22b leads to the inference that the hakham was always the director of a school ( bet midrash), for in addition to the Great Sanhedrin, which later came to take the place of an academy, there were also private academies under the direction of eminent scholars. The origin of the office of ''hakham'' is as doubtful as its duration.
In the
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach" . '' Tabernacle, it's lamps and oil, the anointing oil, the altar of burnt offering and its bronze gate, its utensils (all of them), and the woven vestments of Aaron and his sons.
Frankel thinks that Joshua ben Hananiah (early 2nd century) was the first hakham. He does not sufficiently support this assertion. The office seems to have existed in Palestine as long as the academy of the . An amora of the fourth century recounts the following rule of etiquette, still observed in his time: "When the ''hakham'' appears in the academy everyone present must rise as soon as he comes within four ells of him, and must remain standing until he has gone four ells beyond". It is hardly possible that the office of ''hakham'' existed in Talmudic academies in Babylonia ( Lower Mesopotamia). where the relation of the exilarch to the heads of the academy was entirely different from that existing in Talmudic academies in Syria Palaestina between the latter and the . Here, ''hakham'' was merely the term for a Jewish scholar who studied chiefly oral traditions. The terms '' sofer'' "scribe" and ''qārāʾ'' "reciter, reader" were applied to Bible scholars. In the '' Seder Olam Zutta'', every exilarch is accompanied by a ''hakham'', who probably had charge of the religious affairs of the exilarchate; but as this work originated in Palestine, the author probably applied Palestinian conditions to Babylon. The Syrian Aphrahat, who had met only Babylonian Jews, mentions a man "who is called the 'hakkima' of the Jews", but this too may mean "the wise man" of the Jews.
The plural, ''hakhamim'', is generally used in the Talmud, and also by the Tannaim, to designate the majority of scholars as against a single authority. The Aramean equivalent is "rabbanan."
Spanish and Portuguese Jews
Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the fe ...
, ''hakham'' is the official title of the local rabbi, but it is not known how old the title is. Shlomo ibn Aderet addresses some of his responsa to people with ''lehakham Rabbi...'', others again with "larab Rabbi...",Nos. 219, 346 but it is possible that ''lehakham'' simply means "to the wise."
The surname ''Hacham'' is found among both Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews, including variations such as ''Hach'', ''Hachami'', ''Hachamovich'', ''Hachamson''.
In Muslim countries
In the
Muslim world
The terms Islamic world and Muslim world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is ...
, a rabbi was often called a ' because ''al-Rab'' is one of the names of God in Islam and may have caused offense due to misunderstanding. Thus the Chief Rabbi of the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
was called the Hakham Bashi (Hahambaşı ).
Although the word ' is derived from the common Semitic root ', the second consonant is generally spelled with a ' ⟨⟩ in Arabic and in languages that use
Arabic alphabet
The Arabic alphabet, or the Arabic abjad, is the Arabic script as specifically codified for writing the Arabic language. It is a unicase, unicameral script written from right-to-left in a cursive style, and includes 28 letters, of which most ...
to reflect the Hebrew pronunciation: . The term is
cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language.
Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
to the Arabic words ' (ruler/lord) and ' (wise man).
Karaite Judaism
In
Karaite Judaism
Karaite Judaism or Karaism is a Rabbinic Judaism, non-Rabbinical Jewish religious movements, Jewish sect characterized by the recognition of the written Tanakh alone as its supreme religious text, authority in ''halakha'' (religious law) and t ...
, spiritual leaders are called ''hakham'' to distinguish them from their Rabbinic (i.e. non-Karaite) counterparts. Since Karaite theology is based on the use of reason by individuals to determine the applications of the