Crown rabbi

Crown rabbi (Russian: казённый раввин, IPA: [kɐˈzʲɵnːɨj rɐˈvʲːin], lit. 'official rabbi') was a position in the Russian Empire given to a member of a Jewish community appointed to act as an intermediary between his community and the Imperial government, to perform certain civil duties such as registering births, marriages, and divorces. Because their main job qualification was fluency in Russian, crown rabbis were typically considered agents of the state by members of their own communities, not true rabbis, and they often had no education in or knowledge of Jewish law.