Q&A: Asking the Rabbi to Waive His Honor
Asking the Rabbi to Waive His Honor
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I would like to ask the Rabbi to permit me to refer to him as “Michael Abraham,” without this constituting, Heaven forbid, any disrespect to the honor of his Torah learning.
I am asking this because I often speak with my secular friends about philosophical and religious topics (to whatever extent there is a difference between the two), and I often want to quote things in the Rabbi’s name. But I’m concerned that if I prefix his name with the word “Rabbi,” it will place the entire argument in a certain frame for my conversation partners, and make it harder for them to relate to it with full seriousness (not necessarily consciously).
Maybe the request seems a little silly, but even so, I think it proper to ask the Rabbi in order to remove any concern from my heart.
Answer
🙂 You have permission to mention me by my name in any forum and in any situation. As far as I’m concerned, titles are completely unnecessary.
Discussion on Answer
Where do I sign?
Add in my name as well: I too, the undersigned, join all that was said above—like Judah, and more besides.
Responsa of Rabbi Abraham son of Maimonides, section 4:
“It is well known among people of intellect and understanding that most of these titles with which people address one another are empty language and mere verbiage. Those of clear understanding use them sparingly and dislike them, while lovers of greatness who chase authority multiply them and love them, for they are their greatness and their distinction.”
See the novellae of Rabbi Yitzchak Zev HaLevi on the laws of Torah study, [following his father Rabbi Chaim], that waiving honor is ineffective regarding a Torah scholar or one’s rabbi who is not even his primary rabbi—
and therefore let it hereby be known: anyone for whom Rabbi M. Abraham is not his primary rabbi is forbidden to call him by his name, and even to abbreviate it with any nickname or form of address of his. It is a commandment to honor him and to fear him in accordance with the laws of reverence and honor explained in Maimonides and the Shulchan Arukh, section 242, and there is no basis to rule any leniency in this.
(-) The place of the signer