Gabbai

A gabbai (Hebrew: גבאי), sometimes spelled gabay, also known as shamash (שמש, sometimes transcribed shamas) or warden (UK, similar to churchwarden), is a beadle or sexton, a person who assists in the running of synagogue services in some way.

In ma'amad, the Council of Elders (or "the board of directors") of the communities of Sephardi Jews, the position of gabbai was that of the treasurer.

The word gabbai is Hebrew and, in Talmudic times, meant "collector of taxes or charity" or "treasurer".

[1] The term shamash is sometimes used for the gabbai, the caretaker or "man of all work" in a synagogue.

In Anglo-Jewry, for example, gabbaim in some synagogue movements have traditionally worn top hats, and where there is a shamash, he may wear canonicals.