GABBAI

( (Hebrew: collector), ) plural Gabbaim, or Gabbais, 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. Originally, gabbaim were men who gathered taxes for the Roman government. In this capacity their reputation as cheats and scoundrels was so notorious that their testimony was not accepted in Jewish courts of law.