hakham

thumb|right|The Hakham of Moinești (Hahamul din Moineşti), [[Ștefan Luchian, 1909]] Hakham (or Chakam(i), Haham(i), Hacham(i), Hach; ) is a term in Judaism meaning a wise or skillful man; it often refers to someone who is a great Torah 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 Talmudic-Midrashic 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. thumb|380px|Photo taken in 1893: installation of the Hakham Bachi of Jérusalem at the Yohanan Ben-Zakai synagogue. In the Hebrew Bible, the "wise man" was mostly depicted as a practical figure in varied contexts. In Isaiah 40:20 a "wise craftsman" (haras hakam) builds an idol. Similarly, the leb-hakam or "skilled craftsmen" of Exodus 35 make the 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."