 The modern form of the rabbi developed in the Talmudic era.Rabbis are given authority to make interpretations of Jewish law and custom.Traditionally, a man obtains one of three levels of Semicha (rabbinic ordination) after the completion of an arduous learning program in Torah, Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), Mishnah and Talmud, Midrash, Jewish ethics and lore, the codes of Jewish law and responsa, theology and philosophy.