[Seph. gah-bahy; Ashk. gah-bahy; Eng. guh-bahy] 
[Seph. gah-bah-eem; Ashk. gah-bahy-im] , English. Gab⋅bais. (sometimes lowercase
) Hebrew. | 1. | a minor official of a synagogue, having limited ceremonial or administrative functions. |
| 2. | (in the early Middle Ages) a government official charged with collecting taxes. |
gabbai
treasurer or honorary official of a Jewish Orthodox congregation, often placed in charge of funds used for charity. The office is a carry-over from former times, when men whose reputations were above reproach collected funds for charity. These gabba'e tzedaqa were so esteemed that no financial reports were ever asked for. The Talmud, nonetheless, insisted that they work in pairs to avoid suspicion of wrongdoing.
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