semikhah

English

Alternative forms

• semicha, semikah, smicha

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew סְמִיכָה (s'mikha)

Noun

semikhah (countable and uncountable, plural semikhot)

1. The ordination of a rabbi.
   • 2010 March 8, cindys, “How Nazism Shaped Islamist Views”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated‎^[1] (Usenet):

     One black hat shul in my neighborhood, when looking for a new pulpit rabbi, listed as one of their requirements that the rabbi needed to hold a four-year secular university degree in addition to his semicha.