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{{Italic title}}
{{short description|Hebrew term meaning "associate"; "colleague"; "fellow"; "companion"; "friend"}}
'''''Chaber''''', '''''chaver''''' or '''''ḥaber''''' ({{lang-he
==Hebrew Bible==
The word appears twice in the Hebrew Bible ([[Psalms]] {{
==A friend==
The term is ordinarily used in rabbinical texts in its Biblical sense of "companion".<ref>[[Pirkei Avot]] [https://www.sefaria.org.il/Pirkei_Avot.2.9?lang=bi 2:9,10]; [[s:he
==A scholar==
The [[rabbi]]s strongly recommended [[Torah study|study]] in [[Chavrusa|company]], asserting that only in this way can knowledge be acquired;<ref>
In the medieval period, the title "''chaber''" was known in the 11th century, when it probably referred to a member of a [[Beth din|court of justice]];<ref>
In congregational life it was conferred as a rule on [[Jewish views on marriage|married]] men, but often also on [[yeshiva]] graduates who were [[Single person|single]].<ref name="Jewish"/> Rabbi
==Purity laws==
"''Chaber''" also denotes a member of a society or order ("''chaburah''," "''chaburta''," "''k'neset''" = "aggregation," "company," "union"), or of a union of [[Pharisees]], for the purpose of carrying out the observance of the laws of [[Tumah and taharah|food purity]] to their fullest possible development. In their eyes, any person whose observance of the food purity or [[Tithe#Mosaic law|tithing]] laws was doubtful was an ''[[am ha'aretz]]'', whose contact was defiling. The term "''chaber''" is not synonymous with "''Parush''" (Pharisee), since not all Pharisees were ''chaberim'', though sometimes the generic term "''parush''" is used instead.<ref>
On the Scriptural verse, "He shall... purify and sanctify it"<ref>[[Leviticus]] {{Bibleverse-nb||lev|16:19|
===Origin===
The Bible requires the Israelite to give certain gifts from his farm and herd to the priest, [[Levite]], and poor.<ref>{{Bibleverse||Lev.|27:30-32|
===Admission===
To be admitted as a chaber, one must declare his determination never to give ''terumah'' or ''ma'aser'' to a priest or a Levite who is classified as an ''am ha'aretz''; nor to allow his ordinary food to be prepared by an ''am ha'aretz''; nor to eat his ordinary food (''chullin'', grain and fruit from which ''terumah'' and ''ma'aser'' have been separated) except in a certain state of Levitical cleanness.<ref>
===Degrees of ''chaburah''===
There are several classes of ''chaberim'', corresponding to the several degrees of Levitical cleanness. The lowest class pledges itself to practise Levitical cleanness of "''k'nafayim''" (literally "wings"). This is a very obscure term, for which no satisfactory explanation has been found. It is generally assumed to mean "hands"; inasmuch as the Pharisaic maxim is, "Hands are always busy," unintentionally touching both clean and unclean things, they are regarded as being in a state of uncertain cleanness; hence one must cleanse them before eating anything Levitically clean.<ref>
As the ordinary Israelite and the Levite are not permitted to handle the most sacred things, it naturally follows that not all men are eligible for the higher degrees; and even of those whose descent does not bar their admission, not all are willing to assume the correspondingly greater precautions incident to the privilege. Provision is therefore made for general admission to the lower degrees, of which most people availed themselves. It is ordained that if one desires to join the order of ''chaberim'', but does not wish to subject himself to the duties devolving upon the members of the higher degrees—the precautions necessary to keep himself Levitically clean, as for the more sacred things—he may be accepted; but where, on the contrary, one seeks admission to the higher degrees while refusing to pledge himself to strict observance of the rules governing the lower degrees, he must be rejected.<ref name="b30"/><ref name="Jewish"/>
===Separation from the ''am ha'aretz''===
Having been admitted as reliable in matters of ''ma'aser'', a ''chaber'' must tithe what he eats, what he sells of his own produce, and what he buys for the purpose of selling, and must not eat at the table of an ''[[am ha'aretz]]'', lest he be served untithed food. A full ''chaber'' must, in addition, not sell to an ''am ha'aretz'' anything that moisture would render subject to uncleanness,<ref>See Leviticus {{Bibleverse-nb||lev|11:38|JPS}};
A ''chaber's'' wife, and his child or servant, have the same status as the ''chaber'' himself.<ref>
===Suspension from the order===
The status of ''chaber'' continues indefinitely, unless one is reasonably suspected of backsliding. In that case, he is suspended from the ''chaburah'' until he reestablishes his trustworthiness. Similarly, where a ''chaber'' accepts an office that is considered suspicious (such as that of tax-collector or publican) he is suspended from the ''chaburah'', but is reinstated upon leaving the office.<ref>
===Date of origin===
The exact date when the ''chaberim'' first appeared can not be determined. It is unlikely that the ''chaburah'' concept existed in pre-Maccabean days, or that it is identical to the "great congregation of priests" ([[I Maccabees]] 14:28),<ref>[[Abraham Geiger|Geiger]], "''Urschrift und Uebersetzungen der Bibel in Ihrer Abhängigkeit von der Inneren Entwicklung des Judenthums''," [https://archive.org/details/urschriftundueb01geiggoog/page/124/mode/1up p. 124]</ref> since in the later period of Persian rule over the Land of Israel, no great formative events are on record which could account for so great a separation from the body of the people. The precise period of the ''chaburah's'' organization should be sought, therefore, in the late second century BCE.<ref name="Jewish">{{Jewish Encyclopedia|inline=1|article=ḤABER|author=S. S. S. M.|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6981-haber|accessdate=May 30, 2013}}<br />
* [[Abraham Geiger|Geiger]], ''{{Abbr|Urschrift|Urschrift und Uebersetzungen der Bibel in Ihrer Abhängigkeit von der Inneren Entwicklung des Judenthums}}'', pp. [https://archive.org/details/urschriftundueb02geiggoog/page/121/mode/1up 121] et seq.;
*[[Heinrich Graetz|Grätz]], ''{{Abbr|Gesch.|Geschichte der Juden}}'' 3d ed., iii. 74 et seq., and notes 9, 10, 13;
*[[Jacob Hamburger|Hamburger]], ''{{Abbr|R. B. T.|Realencyclopädie für Bibel und Talmud}}'' ii. [https://archive.org/details/realencyclopdi01hambuoft/page/126/mode/1up 126];
*[[Leopold Löw]], ''Nachgelassene Schriften'', ii. 140;
*[[Maimonides]], ''[[Yad ha-Chazaka|Yad]]'', ''Ma'aserot'', ix.-xii.;
*''[[Semag]]'', precept 135;
*[[Emil Schürer|Schürer]], ''{{Abbr|Gesch.|Geschichte des Jüdischen Volkes}}'' 3d ed., ii. [https://archive.org/details/geschichtedesj02sch/page/387/mode/1up 387];
*[[Claude Montefiore|Montefiore]], ''Hibbert Lectures'', [https://books.google.ne/books?id=vT9BAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA498&hl=fr&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false p. 498];
*[[Wilhelm Bacher|Bacher]], in ''[[Monatsschrift für die Geschichte und Wissenschaft des Judenthums|Monatsschrift]]'', xliii. 345-360;
*idem, ''Aus dem Wörterbuch Tanchum Jeruschalmis'', [https://archive.org/details/bacherw1903ausd/page/n22/mode/1up p. 20].</ref>
==See also==
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